DePaola, Tomie. (1979). Strega nona. Illus. Tomie DePaola. New York, New York: Aladdin.
Strega Nona is a classic story about a friendly, elderly witch who cures people from their ailments. Issues like headaches and warts are no problem for Strega Nona. The story is mainly focused on a character named Big Anthony who helps Strega Nona . One day he discovers a magical pot that cooks pasta all by itself. The magical pot turns into quite the mess after Big Anthony uses the pot without permission from Strega Nona. The story is a 1976 Caldecott Honor book.
Tomie DaPaola
Grade Level: K-3
Readers who will like this: Children who enjoy reading about humorous mischief, children who enjoy magic, children or adults who enjoy Italian folktale
Response/Rating (1-4): 4
One question you would ask before a read aloud: After hearing the word, ‘Strega Nona,’ and looking at the story cover, what do you think this story is about?
Reading Strategies Connection: A reading strategy from Tompkins that I would use for Strega Nona would be the Interactive Read-Aloud. I think this Caldecott honor book is the perfect story to enchant young children with the love of literacy. This is a fun, expressive story that will engage children before, during, and after. As a class, we would make predictions of the story and then revise the predictions in the middle. We would discuss the persona of Big Anthony and what he might be thinking; we could even reenact small portions of the story. Interactive read-aloud help students become interested in reading and to also understand the story better.
Strega Nona is a classic story about a friendly, elderly witch who cures people from their ailments. Issues like headaches and warts are no problem for Strega Nona. The story is mainly focused on a character named Big Anthony who helps Strega Nona . One day he discovers a magical pot that cooks pasta all by itself. The magical pot turns into quite the mess after Big Anthony uses the pot without permission from Strega Nona. The story is a 1976 Caldecott Honor book.
Tomie DaPaola
Grade Level: K-3
Readers who will like this: Children who enjoy reading about humorous mischief, children who enjoy magic, children or adults who enjoy Italian folktale
Response/Rating (1-4): 4
One question you would ask before a read aloud: After hearing the word, ‘Strega Nona,’ and looking at the story cover, what do you think this story is about?
Reading Strategies Connection: A reading strategy from Tompkins that I would use for Strega Nona would be the Interactive Read-Aloud. I think this Caldecott honor book is the perfect story to enchant young children with the love of literacy. This is a fun, expressive story that will engage children before, during, and after. As a class, we would make predictions of the story and then revise the predictions in the middle. We would discuss the persona of Big Anthony and what he might be thinking; we could even reenact small portions of the story. Interactive read-aloud help students become interested in reading and to also understand the story better.
You make a good case for matching this book with the interactive read aloud. After you read the DeVries chapter on fluency, you'll see the potential to use this book for Readers' Theater, too. Lots of great personalities to bring to life--kids love those drama opportunities.
ReplyDelete