21- Strega Nona
21- Strega Nona (1975)
Taking a mental health break from hyper-analysis to offer this pasta witch.
Strega Nona is the titular character behind the children’s book of the same name written by Tomie dePaola. The story is about an old witch who is renowned in her village for her remedies and matchmaking abilities. She hires a young helper named Big Anthony to assist her in her work as she is getting too old to work alone. One day, Strega Nona is cooking a magic pasta. Big Anthony doesn’t pay close enough attention, however, and while he sees Strega Nona singing a magic spell to produce the pasta, he misses the necessary spellcraft required to stop the production. The result is that macaroni noodles flood the entire town as the spell gets carried away. Strega Nona gives Anthony a fork saying “the punishment must fit the crime,” and makes him eat all of the pasta. The two characters, Strega Nona and Big Anthony, have appeared in nearly a dozen additional books by dePaola, however the first is the most well known, winning several awards for children’s picture books.
The moral of the story? Pay Attention. I love any time a witch, especially an older one, is shown in a positive light in a children’s tale. Even in a children’s book, the story conveys the wisdom and magic associated with witches, and goes so far as making Strega Nona a moral compass. She’s happy, kind, and well respected around town, the latter aspect greatly differentiating her from other witches in this series. While her personality is the inverse of the traditional witch, her physical appearance, as that of an old, frumpy, squat, and big nosed woman does fit the standard image. She’s shown with a cauldron (pasta pot) and various animal familiars surrounding her. Similar to the Witch from Room on a Broom (#75), La Befana (#68), and even Eglantine Price (#97), Strega Nona joins the ranks of positive witches geared towards and beloved by children.
