Strega Nona

Strega Nona is an original children's book written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. It concerns Strega Nona ("Grandma Witch") and her helper. The helper causes the title character's magic pasta pot to create so much pasta that it nearly flooded and buried a town. The book, which is likely dePaola's best-known work, was published in 1975 and won a Caldecott Honor in 1976. It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.

Plot

Set in Calabria, in southern Italy, the book focuses on the exploits of Strega Nona. She is a sort of female witch doctor noted throughout her home village for her numerous successful remedies. She helps her fellow villagers with their troubles, most notably by curing headaches, helping single women find husbands, and ridding people of warts.

Because she "was getting old," she employs the assistance of a young man named Big Anthony who "didn't pay attention." He secretly observes her singing a spell to a magic pasta pot to produce large amounts of cooked pasta; unfortunately, he fails to notice that she blows kisses to the pot three times to stop the pasta production.