Kirkus Reviews

DePaola's latest holiday contribution describes the eight traditional feast days of the Christmas season in Calabria, home of the consummate cook, Strega Nona, and her ever-hungry sidekick, Big Anthony. The foods, traditions and legend for each feast day are worked into the text as the villagers celebrate each event together. On the eve of the Feast of the Three Kings, Strega Nona follows tradition and cooks delicious dishes for each of her pets, but poor Big Anthony gets only a plate of plain pasta. He gets in trouble when he helps himself to the goat's turnips, and the goat retaliates by eating Anthony's blanket. When Big Anthony is chosen as the king of the Feast of Epiphany, he chooses a new blanket as his gift from Strega Nona and a big dish of turnips that he gives to the goat as a peace offering. Strega Nona's larger gift is sending a marvelous dream of magical food to each of the villagers, with walls turning to cheese and bedsheets into sheets of lasagna. (Readers will probably want to know more about those delectable dreams.)   The information conveyed about the feast days is interesting, but Strega Nona and Big Anthony aren't at their top form in this effort, with little of the rich magical humor they are known for. (author's note) (Picture book/religion. 4-7)

ALA Booklist (Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2011)

The latest picture book in the popular, enduring series that began with Caldecott Honor Book Strega Nona (1975) weaves Italian holiday traditions into a lively story about Big Anthony, a tall boy, and his grandmother in their Italian village. From Christmas to the Feast of San Silvestro to the Epifanía e Feast of the Three Kings s Big Anthony celebrates and feasts through December and January, and along the way, he messes up. In one scene, for example, he gobbles up the delicious turnips that Strega Nona cooks for the goat, so the goat gobbles Big Anthony's blanket . . . . Kids will enjoy the mischief and the turnarounds, shown with gentle humor in the joyful acrylic-and-watercolor pictures filled with food, singing, and dancing. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Strega Nona holds a key spot in the pantheon of classic children's book characters; expect instant and enduring demand.

Horn Book (Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

To mark Italy's feast days, Strega Nona is busy cooking, as usual--and sorting out Big Anthony's troubles, also as usual. From the Feast of San Nicola (December 6) to the Feast of Epiphany (January 6), Strega Nona's Calabrian village celebrates the season. Glowing watercolors in warm Mediterranean colors capture the details of each feast day and of Big Anthony's foibles.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Strega Nona and her entire Calabrian village are busy preparing for holiday feasts, from the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6 to Il Capodanno (New Year-s Day) and beyond. On January 5, the eve of the Epiphany, when everyone traditionally cooks for their animals, Big Anthony can-t resist -Signora Goat-s- delicious food, and the resentful goat devours Big Anthony-s blanket. Too cold to sleep, Anthony misses out on the dreams of delicious food that Strega Nona-s magic grants the people of Calabria: -The walls turned into ricotta and mozzarella. Bedposts became sausages.- DePaola delivers a hearty sampler of Italian holiday traditions and seasonal

School Library Journal (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

K-Gr 3 Fans of Strega Nona and her bumbling helper will delight in this funny tale in which the many feasts of the holiday season are the focal point. All is well until the eve of the Epiphany, the special night when animals are rumored to talk and are therefore well fed by their owners. Big Anthony greedily consumes the goat's treats, and the animal retaliates by eating his blanket. He suffers a cold and sleepless night without receiving the dreams of bountiful food that Strega Nona sends everyone else in the village as her gift. When he finds the lucky fava bean in the Epiphany cake, he asks for a gift of a new blanket and a dish of delicious food that he gives to the goat as a truce. Infused with warm Italian flavor and decorated with dePaola's signature charming illustrations, this is a holiday selection that readers will savor. Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library