The Mysterious Giant of Barletta: An Italian Folktale adapted & illustrated by Tomie de Poala

This is a captivating story about the the huge statue of a Mysterious Giant who stands in front of a Church in the little Italian town of Barletta. The people of Barletta interact with the Mysterious Giant everyday, but an oldest one in all of Barletta, Zia Concetta, has a special bond with the statue. She greets him in the morning and at night Zia Concetta would call, "...good night, Big One."

When an army of a thousand men threatens to destroy the little town, Zia Concetta asks the Giant to step down off the pedestal and frighten the army away. The oldest woman and the Giant come up with a plan to save the village which includes an enormous onion, hiding the townspeople, and having faith in the Mysterious Giant. Their plan to trick the army is rather clever, I didn't see it coming - I would imagine that children would find it hilarious!

We can see some of de Paola's favorite themes at work in this book: Self image ("They call me names, like 'tiny' and 'weakling'" as in Oliver Button is a Sissy), Magic (as in many de Paola books), Italy, the old woman (as in Strega Nona and others), Catholicism, and others that I am just not thinking about right now... The illustrations are rich as usual. The interesting use of color capture the mood and feelings represented in the folktale.

The Knight and the Dragon, by Tomie de Paola

This is another fun book by de Paola. The fantasy-like tale tells a story about a Knight who has never fought a Dragon, and a Dragon who has never fought a Knight. They each must learn the intricacies of fighting their opponent, but when the battle ensues... things do not go as planned and in the end the reader is taken by complete surprise!

As usual, the illustrations are unique and interesting. They tell much of the story on their own, as there are very few words in the book. In fact, there are eighteen pages in this book without any words. Most of the wordless pages illustrate the "fight" between the characters, and the hilarity that ensues following the big defeat.

The book allows the reader to use the imagination as a tool to develop a unique interpretation of the story - SUPER COOL!

Tom, by Tomie de Paola

This book tells the story of a boy, Tommy and his grandfather Tom. Tommy and Tom cause all kinds of mischief, and the reader gets the feeling that perhaps Tom is not the best influence on little Tommy. Tom owns a butcher shop and gives his grandson a two chicken feet and teaches him how to "pull the tendons" to make them move. Tommy precedes to use the chicken feet as weapons of terror as he scares his classmates and teachers.

Of course I loved the book, it was hilarious! I was almost rolling in laughter. Tom reminds me of my own grandpa, always getting me into trouble with his silly tricks and games - for some reason we keep going back for more (Tommy and I do, anyway)...

I can see how kids would really love this story about having fun with grandpa. The content may be a little outdated - corncob pipes, the butcher shop, chopping off chicken heads and feet with a cleaver, coal furnaces - and perhaps an illustration of Tom chopping off chicken heads isn't the most loving of Grandfather images. But nevertheless, it's awesome!

You just don't seem to see as many recently published books as rich as this anymore...but perhaps I'm old fashioned. Have we lowered our standards to Spiderman and Bratz? In my opinion, a little violence in a children's book is WAY better than the dense, commercialized junk that's being mass produced and is filling up libraries everywhere. GO TOM!

The Hunter and the Animals, by Tomie de Paola

OH, de Paola, if only you were my age! I am in love with his books. The illustrations, and the stories told by the art are so vivid and engaging.

This book is a wordless picture book, The story begins on the title page showing a beautifully odd artistic interpretation of a forest full of animals: fox, deer, squirrels, rabbits, birds, beavers and others. The colors are earthy and natural. A few pages into the story, we are introduced to a hunter who journeys into the forest with a gun. The reader is led to believe that he will shoot and kill an animal, but alas, the hunter is outsmarted by the animal's cunning acts of deception and trickery. In the end the animals help the hunter to open his heart and go through an unlikely transformation.

This is a great book to use with children who enjoy storytelling and creating their own meaning from illustrations. However, the fact that the hunter carries a gun may be seen as a refection of violence in a "public school setting," even though in the end the story tell us how important it is to respect the animals (or perhaps: do unto others as you would want them to do unto you). In fact, this book could be seen as a work to reach out to children to further animal rights awareness.

The author provides a brief outline in the form of a bullet-point list on the inside of the dust jacket, to provide a little insight into his intent for the story, and what the illustrations are meant to reflect. This feature is helpful for the less imaginative of us who want to know, "what story was the author trying to tell?" But really, there is so much more that can be found in these illustrations than what the author lets on. DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED!

Strega Nona, by Tomie DePaolo

Ooo, what a gem. This book teaches the importance of listening carefully, following the rules, and that there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing."

In this book too much of good thing comes in the form of a magical pasta pot that boils and bubbles and makes hot pasta. However, when Big Anthony uses the magical pasta pot without the permission of Strega Nona (the magical old woman who the pot belongs to) - the pasta almost engulfs the entire village when he is unable to turn it off. Big Anthony thought everyone in the village would be so thankful for his generous gift of free pasta that he did not stop to contemplate what may go wrong. Everyone was angry at Big Anthony for flooding the village with pasta, and in the end he is scolded by Strega Nona and is punished by being forced to eat all of the pasta.

I'd say Big Anthony learned his lesson.

The magic in this book is very exciting, and the illustrations tell a wonderfully vivid story. The image of the pasta flowing out of Strega Nona's little house and down the hill to the village is an unforgettable sight. The illustrations are interesting in that some are set up like a "comic strip" - showing the progression of the flowing pasta.

This is an awesome book, I would recommend it as a MUST READ!