Book Review: Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

General Information

Title: Strega Nona

Author: Tomie dePaola

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Date of Publication: 1975

Illustrator: Tomie dePaola

NOTE: This review is based on an online read-aloud of Strega Nona from Mary Steenburgen, which can be found here: Strega Nona - Storyline Online (read-aloud).

Lexile Level & Target Audience

Lexile: AD880L

Age Range: 4-8

Audience: boys and girls, lovers of fairytales and magical themes

Brief Summary

Strega Nona is a fictional story about a witch (Nona) with a secret, magical pasta pot that makes pasta all by itself. Big Anthony, a young boy who Nona hires to do odd jobs and run errands, discovers this secret one day when he overhears Nona casting her spell/song on the pot. He then decides to take matters into his own hands and cast the spell that he overhears from Nona. Much to his surprise, things begin to go terribly awry, as he's missed a key element of Nona's spell...

Evaluation: Pros & Cons

Pros:

1. Steenburgen's character voices and narration is captivating and superb. Steenburgen is phenomenal in her read-aloud of this text. I mean, she even plays the accordion and sings Strega Nona's song! Her narration is steady and calming, and the accents she uses for each of the characters (especially for Nona) are endearing and believable. Students will quickly find themselves getting swept up into this story, largely due to Steenburgen's outstanding performance (you'd think she was an actress or something...).

2. The climax is both hilarious and effective in communicating the theme. This story has the essence of an old fairytale or fable, in which the reader is meant to learn a lesson from the character's mistakes. The book ends in a laugh-out-loud climax, illustrating the consequences of wrong actions and the results of disregarding instruction from wise authority figures.

Cons:

1. Witchcraft and wizardry. This is certainly the most off-putting aspect of the text. Although the whole idea of witchcraft and wizardry is––to varying degrees––quite rampant in children's movies and entertainment, the introduction of this concept to students before they are able to distinguish reality from "make-believe" is, in my opinion, potentially harmful. The ridiculous plot line (in which a multiplying bowl of pasta literally begins to "take over" the town) does soften this aspect of the text, making it much more fairytale/fable-esque than dark or sinister. However, certain aspects of the vocabulary––such as Nona being referred to as a "witch"––is unfortunate; if choosing to implement this read-aloud into my classroom, I would be more willing to do so with upper elementary (i.e. 4th grade).

[Above is the main con of this text.]

Literary Elements

Re-occurring Themes: Nona's warning to Big Anthony ("don't touch the pasta pot") is repeated word for word a second time later in the text, increasing its emphasis and impact.

Rhythm/Rhyme: Nona's song (spell) is lilting, rhythmic, and rhyming, contributing all the more to the whimsical nature of this tale.

Word Repetition: dePaola uses the repetition of the word "and" instead of commas to emphasize the sheer number and variety of dishes that the townspeople bring to eat the pasta ("plates and platters and bowls").

Illustrations

dePaola conveys the story with vibrant and distinct images, which perfectly complement his intriguing plot. The characters have just enough realism to be believable and just enough whimsy to make the story seem magical and make-believe.

Mini-lesson Idea(s)

The use of repetition is evident throughout this text, in multiple ways (as outlined above in the "literary elements" section). Students could choose one of these three repetition strategies to mimic in their own real-life or fictional story (re-occurring theme, rhythm/rhyme, or word repetition). Alternatively, students could be randomly assigned an image or phrase to weave repeatedly throughout a piece of writing (whether prose or poetry). Examples of these repeated images/phrases could be things like: piano, sunshine, lonely, "but what he didn't know was...," "and that was when....," etc.

Cheers!

- Aubrey