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    Strega Nona
    Strega Nona
    Strega Nona
    Audiobook26 minutes

    Strega Nona

    Written by Tomie dePaola

    Narrated by Peter Hawkins

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Strega Nona's meddling assistant Big Anthony is determined to prove to the townspeople his knowledge of the magic secrets contained in the pasta pot of Strega Nona. In so doing, he unleashes a torrent of pasta which threatens to engulf their little Italian town.

    Editor's Note

    In memoriam…

    Beloved author and illustrator Tomie dePaola bewitched generations of children (and their parents) with more than 270 books, including stories of a kindly witch (and an overflowing pot of pasta) in his Strega Nona series. DePaola died March 30 at the age of 85.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWeston Woods
    Release dateJan 1, 1978
    ISBN9780545416948
    Strega Nona
    Author

    Tomie dePaola

    Tomie dePaola (1934–2020) was the beloved author and/or illustrator of more than 270 books for young readers, including the children’s classic Strega Nona. He was the recipient of the Newbery Honor, Caldecott Honor, and the 2011 Children’s Literature Legacy Award for “significant and lasting contribution to children’s literature.” A native of Connecticut, Mr. dePaola studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and spent much of his life in New London, New Hampshire. Visit his work online at Tomie.com.

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    Reviews for Strega Nona

    4.5/5

    96 ratings76 reviews

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    • 5/5
      My favorite book of the year! Great for young children.It's just a short story but it made me laugh!Strega Nona (Witch Grandmother) helps the residents her village when they have problems, otherwise she lives in her little cottage and takes care of her garden. She has hired Big Anthony to help her with the heavy chores and one day he sees Strega Nona use her magic pasta pot. Thinking that he can use the magic too, when Nona goes to visit another villager, Big Anthony takes the magic pot and starts the spell. But Big Anthony doesn't understand the workings of the magic pot and gets into a great deal of trouble.I loved this story not just for the laughter but the reminders it brought to me about my own Nona.
    • 5/5
      Manners are important!
    • 4/5
      Strega Nona hires Big Anthony to help around the house, but when she goes away he uses the magic pasta pot. Not knowing the magic, the town fills up with pasta until Strega Nona comes back and makes him eat the abudant noodles.
    • 3/5
      I had mixed feelings for Strega Nona. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline of this book. Strega Nona is a very unique story about a grandmother who knows the cures to just about everything. One day a worker, Anthony, was working for Strega Nona when she decided to visit her friend on the other side of the mountain. Anthony couldn't resist her magical pot of spaghetti so he decided to make his own for the entire town. Although he was being helpful, he didn't realize he was supposed to put a spell on the pot so it would stop cooking. He hoped that Strega Nona could get back in time to stop the pot from making spaghetti. One thing I did not like about this book was the illustrations. They were very boring and bland. They did not capture my interest at all. I wish they were more colorful. The main idea of this book is cooperation and problem solving.
    • 5/5
      Review: This book is a great one for use of traditional tales as it includes magic. In addition, it includes a witch. It also shows children that there are consequences when you do not listen to what you are told. The illustrations match very well with the story. Summary: Big Anthony works for Strega Nona who is the grandmother witch. She helps people with all sorts of things and seems like a good woman. She asks Big Anthony for help tending the garden and house. Strega Nona has a pot that she sings to and it makes endless pasta for her. When she wants the pot to stop she blows three kisses and when she wants it to start, she sings to it. Strega Nona goes out of town and tells Big Anthony not to touch the pot. Eventually, Big Anthony figures out her secret and tries to make pasta for everyone. However, he can't stop the pot because he doesn't know how to blow kisses. The pot fills her house and then the town as well. Strega Nona finally returns and makes Big Anthony eat all of the noodles which he succeeds in.
    • 4/5
      The first of many Strega Nona books, this is the introduction to the "grandmother witch" and her gardner Big Anthony. Big Anthony gets into trouble when he tries out some of Strega Nona's magic. My daughter loved these books when she was three and we read this book and the others repeatedly.
    • 4/5
      A classic folktale about listening to those who are in control and know more. While I understand that viewpoint, I also believe in proper education and engendering trust. Obviously, the entirety of this story could have been avoided by properly apprenticing Big Antony instead of shutting him out. While it should teach lessons about not eavesdropping or overstepping boundaries or abusing power, I feel like if she'd simply taught Big Antony from the beginning of their relationship, so much destruction and hardship could have been avoided.
    • 5/5
      By far one of my favorite children's books! I loved it as a child and I love it as an adult!
    • 5/5
      Strega Nona is the story of a woman called Grandma Witch who helps out everyone in her town. She hires Big Anthony to help her because she is old. Big Anthony promises Strega Nona that he will not touch her magic pot, but breaks that promise as soon as she is gone. Big Anthony learns his lesson when he overruns the town with pasta and has to eat it all to clean the town. While Big Anthony isn't bad, he is naughty, which many children can be at times. He disobeys and must pay the consequences afterwards. The theme is that if you do something bad, you will get in trouble and have to pay the consquences. It is a theme that smaller children can understand. The illustrations help move the story along. dePaola uses panels and other methods to convey the movement of the pasta, which actually looks really neat! There aren't alot of words, so the book is very good for a story time. The story lends itself to being read outloud with excitement as the pasta takes over the town. I would say this is a must have in an elementary or children's library.
    • 4/5
      Big Anthony almost covers his village with pasta when he uses a spell on Strega Nona's magic pasta pot that he doesn't understand. Good, witchy Italian fun.
    • 5/5
      Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona is soon to be a family favorite. An original folk-tale inspired by classical Italian folk-tales, Strega Nona follows a Big Anthony as he comes to work for the beloved town witch, Strega Nona. Strega Nona is renowned in her town for being able to cure headache, help single women find husbands and ridding people of warts but no one knows of her secret pasta pot. It is Big Anthony's job to keep house for the aging Strega Nona. One day while going about his chores, Big Anthony finds the old witch singing to a large pot. When finished with her song, the most delicious smelling pasta begins to flow from it. Big Anthony was so excited to share the news. Soon the opportunity came and when Strega Nona left the town to visit her friend, Strega Amelia, Big Anthony invited everyone to witness the magic of the pot and enjoy the wonderful pasta. Pasta flowed and the people of the town enjoyed a wonderful feast. Big Anthony was sure he knew how to stop the pasta from flowing but unfortunately had not stuck around to see the final step: blowing three Italian kisses. Thus, the pasta continued to flow and soon took over the city. Just then Strega Nona returned, turned the magic pasta pot off but refused to take care of the mess of pasta herself. Instead, she left it to Big Anthony who had so wanted to enjoy the pasta himself. You can only imagine the stomach ache he must have by the end of this comical tale!
    • 5/5
      Strega nona has a magic pot that makes pasta. Her helper Anthony uses her magical song to make pasta, but does not do the final step:blow three kisses. The town is overflowed with pasta, and Anthony must eat it all as punishment for using the pasta. This is cute tale that can remind children to always listen. I could use this book for story time, or I could use it when teaching about different folklore tales from around the world.
    • 5/5
      Strega Nona has a magic pot which will make as much spaghetti as she wants. One day, when Strega Nona is out of town, Big Anthony sneaks into her house and makes the pot start cooking spaghetti. But he doesn’t know how to make it stop!One of my favorites when I was a kid. I watched it as a YouTube video that showed all of the illustrations and Tomi di Paola reads the book himself. Highly recommended!
    • 5/5
      This story is one of Tomie dePaola's greatest hits. The story kicks off my Author unit to introduce his family. The story lends students an idea of what happens wihen they don't listen or don't follow the rules. I use it to teach the rules.
    • 4/5
      Strega Nona means "grandma which" and is the story of a small village that is almost over run with pasta when Strega Nona's helper ignores her warnings and decides to show off her magic pot to the villiagers.
    • 4/5
      This book has great descriptive pictures, and it was written very well. It is about a boy and how he does not listen to Strega nona. By not listening something really bad happens and he has to deal with the consequences by himself. I recommend this book to any teacher, it is just a funny book to read to children.
    • 4/5
      Enchanting not-quite-cartoonish illustrations, and engagingly told tale of the apprentice who disobeys and causes disaster, this time with a spaghetti pot that overflows and inundates the town, until "Granny Witch" gets it (and him) back under control.
    • 4/5
      Strega Nona is a childhood favorite. I love this book for the nostalgia it makes me feel. I can remember back listening to the story being read to me in the classroom. This story is about Strega Nona, which means "Grandma witch," and her helper Anthony. Anthony does not listen to Strega Nona when she tells him not to touch her magical pot that cooks pasta on its own. The first chance he gets he uses the pot and causes the town to almost be covered in pasta! Strega Nona saves the town, and as punishment, Anthony has to eat all the pasta. The pictures are wonderful and I like how many different learning experiences can come from reading this story. I would use this book specifically as a mentor text for illustrating cause and effect. Because Anthony did not listen to Strega Nona about not touching her pot, he had to pay the price and eat all the pasta that almost covered the whole town.
    • 3/5
      Strega Nona has amazing powers but needs help around her house. She then hires Anthony to do chorus that she is not able to do. One day Anthony sees Strega Nona make pasta out of magic, and goes to town to brag about it. The towns people do not believe him, so Anthony sets out to prove he's telling the truth. But, Anthony is not to touch the pasta pot, because it is Strega Nona special tool. Instead of listening Anthony makes the pasta for the town, but does not have the most important ingredient.
    • 4/5
      An old lady referred to as Strega Nona which meant "Grandma Witch", was talked and whispered about all over the town of Calabria. She was thought to have had a magic touch. As she grew even older, she needed help maintaining her home and garden. She put out a sign asking for help and one young man named Big Anthony went to see her. He got the job. He moved in and spent all of his time there. He was given one rule, never to touch her pasta pot. This pot really was magical. It produced tons of pasta and then stopped making pasta by Strega Nona simply singing her magical song. As the weeks went on, she had to leave town to visit a friend. Temptation struck and Anthony could not help but to try to use the pot. What Big Anthony did not know was that to get the pasta to stop cooking, Strega Nona had to blow three kisses to the pot. As time went on, Anthony had the entire town covered in pasta. It did not end until Strega Nona returned. The town wanted to harshly punish him but Strega Nona suggested that his punishment would be to eat all of the pasta that he produced. He would never make the mistake of touching her pot again. The illustrations in the book add a lot to the story line. The pictures describe the what is going on very well. It is amazing that the way the Tomie dePaola depicts the characters, is exactly how one would imagine them looking like in real life. I also really enjoy being able to tell exactly what the characters are thinking but simple lines drawn for expressions. I can tell what each town member, Strega Nona, and Big Anthony are thinking by just the way their eyes and mouths are drawn.
    • 4/5
      How great this is depends on if the story of the overfilling pot is new to you or not (like, I probably first heard it 30 years or more before I encountered the book, so it's less exciting to me, whereas my kid's ma first encountered it through this book, so it's quite exciting to her!), but it's pretty great.
    • 5/5
      Strega Nona, or “Grandma Witch,” is wonderful at making magic. However, since she is getting older, she needs help around the house. She then hires Big Anthony, and tells him that the one thing he cannot do is touch her pasta pot. He oversees what this pot can do, and doesn’t listen to Strega Nona. Because he disobeys, he causes many problems for himself, Strega Nona, and the rest of the town.
    • 3/5
      This is a good example of a folktale because Stega Nona has a magic pot that makes spaghetti without any cooking ingredients. She only has to say a rhyme and the spaghetti is made. However, the important part of the magic is that she blows 3 kisses when enough spaghetti is made.
    • 4/5
      We aren't as huge Tomie dePaola fans as many people we know seem to be, but we did enjoy this book enough that it received multiple readings before we returned it to the library. My kids also enjoyed the Scholastic video that includes this story.
    • 4/5
      This book is a great book that was read to me when I was in elementary school. It is about an older lady who leaves a family member in charge of her magic pot while she goes to town. He then tries to show the town all the magical things the magic pot does but he doesn't know how to make it work, so the magic pot makes tons and tons of noodles and it won't stop making noodles. When Strega Nona gets back to the pot she sees what is going on and...well you have to read to find out. I like this book and how the illustration represents other cultures from other time periods. I also like how it shows that when you don't listen to important instructions bad things can happen.
    • 4/5
      Classic favorite about an old woman with a magic pot. Catastrophe strikes when a man named Big Anthony tries to use her pot to make pasta and the noodles take over the town. Another great folk tale from Eastern Europe.
    • 4/5
      The humorous tale of Strega Nona and Big Anthony is wonderfully retold and illustrated by Tomie de Paola. Big Anthony goes to work for Strega Nona (which means grandma witch) in return for money, food, and a place to sleep. One night, he spies on Strega Nona using her magic pasta pot, but misses one key step in her ritual. When she goes on a short trip, Big Anthony decides to use the pot against her instructions, and what results is almost disastrous. Strega Nona saves the day upon her return, but Big Anthony is left with the consequences of breaking her rule. De Paola's charming and rustic looking illustrations are the perfect accompaniment for this traditional tale. Students reading this independently may need help reading Italian words like "Calabria," "si," and "grazie." In the classroom, this book could be used to teach about traditional literature or would fit nicely into a cultural unit about Italy. An explanation of the Catholic influence in Italy would help students to understand the references to the priest, nuns, and the convent. In addition, this book (if not a tad bit didactically) teaches the importance of awareness and following instructions.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of Strega Nona, a witch! It tells the story of how Anthony see Nona talking to her pot and tries to tell the town, but they don't believe him. While she is gone, he sneaks in and sings to the pot, but the trick is he doesn't know the song to make it stop. Nona catches him and gives him the consequence of now eating all the pasta.Teaching Ideas: consequences
    • 5/5
      Poor Big Anthony, he is such a likeable character but he makes some big mistakes. Strega Nona is a great story to read to students K-3. The students I read it too were really engrossed and were wanting to see what happened next. This story leads to great discussions on problems and resolutions.
    • 5/5
      I loved the magic pot of pasta!!!! The kids also love this book