Strega Nona's Magic Lessons

I just returned from reading this to a classroom of 2nd graders (basically, 7 and 8 year-olds). This book seemed to be at just the right level for these kids. Most of them understood how Strega Nona and Bambolona tricked Big Anthony, but a couple didn't seem to. This, to me, is an example of how one book can provide opportunities to test a child's power of perception or provide him or her a new way to look at things. Nice. As a read-aloud, the book is just about the right length (maybe a tiny bit long), and there are several opportunities to use character voices, making it a lot of fun and captivating. Many of the pages contain small-ish pictures, so it is not ideal for holding up and showing to a class unless you can sit very close to them. This book would be even better for a child in your lap or as a bedtime story, where a child can look at (for example) the dichotomy between the results of Bambolona's use of magic and Big Anthony's sad attempts, even while you're still reading the words (a great example here where the pictures contain more story than the words). Something that places this book above many shorter or "younger" picture books is that the storyline include a minor subplot (Big Anthony, feeling slighted by Strega Nona, goes to work for the baker, who, since Bambolona has left, needs an assistant). It works without taking up too much space and detracting from the main storyline. Plus, the book contains a small amount of Italian (always translated immediately). So... creative, funny, and provides learning opportunities (did I mention that Big Anthony learns a lesson in it as well?). How can you go wrong?

In Strega Nona's Magic Lessons we once again join Strega Nona as she teaches Bambalona and a surprising new student Antonia (Big Anthony in disguise) to be Strega too. Bambalona learns well while Antonia struggles and gets it all wrong (humorous and expected, given Big Anthony's past with Strega Nona). When the day comes that Strega Nona gives Bambalona her spell book to study and tells Antonia that she's not ready yet, well, Big Anthony can't accept that and sneaks out in the middle of the night to get the book....and that's when he does it again, he messes with Strega Nona's magic and turns her into a frog. Both he and Bambalona are horrified and worried that they'll never get her back. As usual its love, honesty, integrity and a little forgiveness that wins the day. Another fine addition to the Strega Nona series! Readers will love this fun and silly look at what makes the world go `round. I give it five stars, I love the charming and timeless quality of the stories and illustrations (which are simple yet have a strong old world flavor that is ever so appealing).

The three main characters in this book are Bambolona, Strega Nona, Bid Anthony, and Antonia. The story starts off with Bambolona having to work at her father's bakery. She always had to wake up before the sun rise and was sick and tired of it. She told her father that she had too much to do and that she could use some help. Her father just told her to get up earlier. Bambolona has enough with working athe the bakery, so she decides that she is going to go see Strega Nona, so she can learn how to do magic. Strega Nona is overjoyed to have Bambolona learn magic. Big Anthony, who works around the yard outside and around the house, wanted to learn magic too. Strega Nona says no to him. Big anthony gets upset and decides to go work at the bakery. the baker fires him because he eats the food and doesn't do what he is told. he decides to go back to Strega Nona's house. When Strega Nona answers the door, a girl is standing there and is named Antonia. Strega Nona is happy that she is there and will teach her magic too. Bambolona does a great job and Antonia doesn't do anything right. Strega Nona thinks that Bambolona is ready for harder magic. Antonia thinks she is too, eventhough Strega Nona says no. Antonia decides to steal Bambolona's book of hard spells. The next day, she tries to turn an iron kettle into gold. She ends up turning Strega Nona into a toad. She didn't know what to do, so she decides to ask Bambolona for help. She says she can't help her. Will Strega Nona ever become human again, or will she stay a toad forever? Read the book to find out. I enjoyed this book because my parents use to read it to me all the time when I was younger.

Poor Big Anthony! He tries so hard, but he just hasn't quite learned that his talent lies in other areas. You and your child will love this tale told by Tomie de Paolo (the master!). The artwork is colorful and the story is full of grins and giggles. Girls will like this book because the girl in the story can do things better than Big Anthony. Boys will like this book because it shows that you can make mistakes and learn from them. I loved it, and so will you.

My second grade class has been doing an author study on Tomy De Paola. They just heard "Strega Nona's Magic Lessons" and loved it. Every child laughed at the part where Big Anthony dressed up as a girl. As a language arts lesson they wrote a sentence about the beginning, middle, and end of the book with illustrations. If you visit our web site and make sure to see Alex's and Kevin's page. They drew pictures of Big Anthony that are simply adorable.