Some favorites from my daughter's younger years were pulled recently for bedtime read-alouds.
What my seven year old son enjoys now, my almost eleven year old daughter loves to hear again as well.
Isn't this what makes a good story? ~ that we WANT to hear it again and again?
You need to muster up a good Italian accent to read these books aloud!
Strega Nona is one of our all time favorites! When I read it this week, my daughter wondered if this story was related to The Sorcerer's Apprentice.... good question. (I'll have to Google that one.)
Once you meet Big Anthony, Strega Nona's trusted assistant, you will want to learn more about him. Big Anthony, His Story must be the next book you read. Big Anthony is a lovable, well-intentioned boy who tries to get things right, but it never quite works out for him!
Finally, Strega Nona Meets Her Match is a good way to round out this threesome.
We fell in love with Tomie dePaola long ago.... but last year we really enjoyed the 26 Fairmount Avenue series... we read the entire series in just a couple of weeks. I have to thank Amy for recommending them on her blog.
These three stories are filled with little bits of Italian and pieces of history and geography. As always, the pictures are marvelous and there are lots of giggles as I read each book.
"Reading is important because if you can read you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything."
~Tomie dePaola
I hope you can take a minute to watch this clip of Tomie dePaola talking about the importance of reading... it reinforces to me the importance of my role as a MOTHER who READS to her children!
