Strega Nona. Written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. 1975. Caldecott Honor Book. ISBN 0-671-66283-X. Ages 5 and up. Fictional Folktale.
Strega Nona, called "Grandma Witch" by her fellow townspeople, is a magical woman, who can help cure any problem. Even the priest and nuns would go to her for help. When Strega Nona hired Big Anthony for help, she gave him a few rules, but the most important one was to not touch her pasta pot. Big Anthony discovers that her pasta pot is magical, and when Strega needs to leave for the day, he makes pasta for the whole town. At first he is viewed as a hero, but when the pasta keeps coming and coming and begins to take over the town, Anthony is now a criminal! In the end, Strega Nona returns to see what has happened, and she stops the pasta. She also decides that Anthony must have "punishment to fit the crime," and makes him eat all the pasta!
This book is a classic tale of how listening to directions and rules is important. If Anthony would have obeyed Strega Nona's rule of not touching her pot, nothing would have happened! It is important to teach this lesson to children early on, and this is a great story to tell.
Once again, this book could be used to discuss how it is important to obey rules, directions and laws. It reinforces that bad things will probably happen if you disobey. Strega Nona also seems to be from a different country, such as Greece or Italy. This could bring discussion about Geography as well, but mainly for younger children.
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