Childrens Book Review of Strega Nona Meets Her Match by Tomie dePaola, Number Five in the Series

Strega Amelia and Strega Nona superficially appear similar. They both are old witches who live in sunny Calabria, peninsular Italy’s southwesternmost region. But they actually commit to two different ways of practicing magic. Strega Amelia defers to modernity in:

• Conducting business like an aggressive entrepreneur who lacks family and friends;
• Employing magic like a witch who disdains problem-solving any other way.

Grandma Witch Nona contrastingly embraces an entrepreneurialism of:

• Empathizing with villagers as a homeowner whose horticultural and residential magic involves only a self-motivating pot for making pasta;
• Using magic lotions, potions, and spells only when non-magical approaches fail.

Her long-standing practice almost expires when Strega Amelia decides to turn a brief visit into a business opportunity.

Calabrian villagers enjoy the distinct cuisine, long-standing traditions, predictable lifestyle, and pure dialect which their hilly, sunny homeland harbors. They nevertheless find it interesting to keep informed about modern trends and other customs. They get quite a dose of modernity when Strega Amelia opens a shop with:

• Cutting-edge spells;
• Free cappuccino and desserts;
• Modern equipment.

Everyone has to sample the free food and un-traditional magic available just across the street from Strega Nona’s ultra-traditional, unassuming shop. Calabria’s Grandma Witch quickly is left with neither customers nor employees. Even Big Anthony leaves when Strega Amelia decides to hire an assistant. But the inattentive new hire may be counted on to do what he should not and vice versa.

Tomie dePaola can remember his mother, Florence Downey dePaola, reading to him every day of his childhood. He considers her love for books a major motivator for his defining at age four his life’s mission of illustrating and writing his own books. He describes as critical to his professional self-realization:

• Training in California, Connecticut, and New York;
• Willingness to put that learning into practice.

He emphasizes that folkloric drawing and writing style commitments explain his landing contracts as artist and author of The Wonderful Dragon of Timlin in 1966. That same confident competence inspires the high-quality of the 1993-published Strega Nona Meets Her Match for:

• Ages 4 – 8+ and upward;
• Grades preschool through third grade and onward.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Strega Nona's traditional wisdom is challenged by modern marketing techniques employed by her childhood friend, Strega Amelia.
Shaggy Sparrow-Wort (Thymelaea hirsuta), a species of thyme, is appreciated as a traditional remedy throughout the Mediterranean Basin.
Isola di Capo Rizzuto, southern Crotone Province, Calabria, southern Italy: Franz Xaver, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thymelaea_hirsuta_1.jpg

Strega Nona's childhood friend, Strega Amelia, engages in ploys -- such as free cappuccino -- to lure customers into her modern shop.
traditional cappuccino with goodly amount of foam: Rebecca Storevik, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Traditional_cappuccino.jpg

In "Strega Nona Meets Her Match," Strega Nona's competitor, Strega Amelia, entices customers with free desserts.
Giurgiulena, a nougat-like candy especially treasured at Christmas, is a typical sweet of Calabria. Basic ingredients include sesame and honey, with confetti as colorful garnish.
Sesame (Sesamum indicum) seeds are main ingredient in giurgiulena.: Sigrid Verbert (Sigridverbert), CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giurgule_s.jpg

"Strega Nona Meets her Match~ read aloud" (10"18)
Uploaded June 1, 2021, by Creative Read Alouds to YouTube ~ URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQoA_kLU-4s

Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona series is set in Calabria, a region of natural beauty in the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula
Diamante, Province of Cosenza, northwestern Calabria, southern Italy: PhotoLab XL, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diamante_Monte_La_Caccia_Snow.jpg

"About Tomie: Biography." Tomie.com. Retrieved December 30, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.tomie.com/about_tomie/bio.html

dePaola, Tomie. 1993. Strega Nona Meets Her Match. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.