Strega Nona Meets Her Match (1993), Putnam’s, 30 pp.
This sequel to dePaola’s award-winning Strega Nona introduces Strega Amelia as a modernized witch who sets up in competition with Strega Nona.
Strega Amelia’s new-fangled wart cures, hair growing creams, match-making machine, and method for curing headaches all appeal to the villagers, and Strega Nona soon finds herself with no customers.
What are an old-fashioned witch and her two assistants to do?
As usual, dePaola sprinkles the dialog with Italian phrases, and his stylized watercolors are like carnival posters — wide swatches of brilliant colors set off by white aprons and caps and pastel-washed skies.
Red roof tiles on Italianate buildings, distant hills, crowds waiting at the town gate — the flavor of a Renaissance village comes through in dePaola’s illustrations, perfectly matching the old-country tone of his language and story.
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