Strega Nona's Magic Lessons
Story and Pictures by Tomie de Paola
I remember having this book read to me when I was in elementary school. I also used it for my second read aloud assignment, and the kids loved it. The book is about a young girl who doesn't want to be a baker's daughter anymore so she goes to Strega Nona to learn magic. Big Anthony wants to learn magic too, but Strega Nona doesn't let him learn. He tries to work for the baker, but that doesn't end up working out. He dresses up as Antonia and goes to Strega Nona to learn magic. Antonia doesn't do well learning the magic, but Bambolona, the little girl, picks it up really quick. Antonia is jealous and tries to learn magic over night. She messes up really bad, and has to reveal that it's really just Big Anthony. After he learns his lesson not to mess with magic anymore, he goes back to doing his chores.
This book couldn't be tied in with any specific lesson plans, but it is a fun book that could be used for read aloud. The kids I read it to loved it, and the read aloud time was incentive for good behavior during the day. It would also be a good book to have on a shelf in a classroom. The pictures are interesting, and the kids would love flipping through the book during free time.
Your right this would be hard to tie into a lesson plan. But sometimes it's good for us teachers to remember that reading to read is a good thing and we need to let the children enjoy the books we provide them. I think that students would find Antonia Funny because they already know that it was Antonio. Thanks for such a good book.
ReplyDeleteLoren,
ReplyDeleteI think this book has a good moral to the story about how not to lie. I would use this in my classroom by having the kids write a journal entry on what they would do if they had magic. This would allow the students to think and also get creative.
OMG, I seriously love this book!!!!
ReplyDeleteI would use this book as a fun book and a little bit of a personal lesson, but not so much in an actual lesson plan. I don't think it could be used with an entire lesson plan, but I do think this book would be a great read aloud and that it would make for some great discussion with older kids about not messing with things that shouldn't be messed with.