Strega Nona

Strega Nona | Tomie dePaola | Traditional Lit. | Caldecott Medal | ages 5-8 |

Strega Nona is a children’s story that reflects the theme of punishment after not following orders. Strega Nona, which means grandma witch, is the magical old woman in the village that can do anything with her powers. Many people go to her for help on their problems, whatever they may be, and whoever they are. One day, Strega Nona posts a wanted help ad and hires Big Anthony to help her with work. She explains to him his duties and forbids him to touch her cooking pot. Big Anthony, trying to prove himself to the townspeople, takes Strega Nona’s magic pot that makes pasta, and performs the song as he thought he’d seen Strega Nona do. Because he didn’t perform the song correctly, he made a mess and was soon caught by Strega Nona. She realizes what’s happened and punishes him by forcing him to eat all the pasta he created.

The Caldecott Medal winning book Strega Nona, is a traditional literature story by Thomas Anthony (Tomie) dePaola. In my personal opinion, I say this book is appropriate for children ages five to eight. As a teacher, I would not use this book because of the controversy it has raised. I would definitely avoid in religious settings such as Christian school or Catholics, etc. to avoid conflict with parents and administration about the positive views on witchcraft, witches, and magic. If I were to use this book, the appropriate grade levels would be first grade to third grade because it explains to children what happens when you don’t follow instructions. What comes to mind for ideas for units using this book, is in the beginning of science class, use this book to explain the importance of following directions exactly as instructed, otherwise, mistakes can happen such as mixing wrong ingredients. This can also be applied in other classes unrelated to science.