Big Anthony by Tomie Depaloa 2001, Paperback, Reprint: items on eBay.com

Synopsis
Big Anthony, well-meaning but inattentive, journeys around Italy causing one problem after another, before meeting Strega Nona.

This story about Strega Nona's absent-minded assistant tells of his life before he meets her. Color illustrations accompany the text.

Details
Publication Date:	2001-06-01
Series:	Picture Puffins Series
Edition Description:	Reprint

Size
Height:	10.8 in
Width:	8.5 in
Thickness:	0.2 in
Weight:	4.8 oz

Publisher's Note
From the day he is born on a farm in northern Italy, Big Anthony gets into trouble because he does not pay attention, and now that he is a teenager causing disasters, his father sends him south, passing through Calabria, Pisa, Roma, Napoli, and other cities. Reprint.

Industry Reviews
"...is enjoyable exactly because it is so very much like its predecessors. Readers of all ages can be grateful that dePaola remains so faithful to his work, and continues to practice his magic so well."
New York Times Book Review - Perry Nodelman (11/15/1998)

"This cheerful addition to the dePaola canon has plenty of Italian words to roll off the tongue, and abundant, limpid colors to delight the eye."
Marks

A companion to Strega Nona: Her Story, dePaola's breezy bio of Strega Nona's bumbling sidekick, Big Anthony, can be thoroughly enjoyed by readers whether they are new to the series or longtime fans. The tale opens with the christening of the newborn Anthony, identifiable even in infancy by his wild shock of yellow hair. On this occasion he spills holy water all over himself and everyone else within splashing distance an omen of many misadventures to come. With an Amelia Bedelia-like innocence and tendency to heed only parts of directions, the boy triggers comic confusion wherever he goes. The buoyant art shows what the text does not tell: Anthony slipping under the table at his first birthday to topple an elegant cake onto his head; Anthony stacking not only books (as his teacher has directed) but all the classroom furniture on a groaning shelf; Anthony letting all the sheep out of their pens after listening to only the two final words of his mother's request, "don't leave any of the gates open." Readers will find even more to chuckle over after Big Anthony leaves home to earn his fortune ("Before he ruins ours," quips his grandmother). After several ill-fated job experiences in Italy's major cities, the well-intentioned fellow reads a want ad that leads him to Strega Nona's door and leaves readers at the same time and location as did the last page of Her Story. Though it's a delightful place to be, kids will likely flip back to the start, to relive bumbling Big Anthony's early life all over again. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)
Divakaruni

K-Gr 3-Big Anthony, hapless helper of the good Italian witch Strega Nona, didn't begin his bumbling ways when he caused pasta from a magic pot to engulf the medieval Italian city of Calabria. He has bumbled from birth, and those mishaps have been recorded in this latest installment in the saga. This second prequel to Strega Nona: An Old Tale (S & S, 1975) is less folkloric and more biographical than the original. As in Strega Nona: Her Life (Putnam, 1996), dePaola documents the path that brought the two together. A bit long and perhaps a wee bit obscure for the preschoolers who haven't met the characters before, the text is well balanced with trademark dePaola illustrations, which provide comic visual punch lines to each episode. If the familiar cartoons are a bit looser in execution, the palette, with rosy Italian skies and even a volcano eruption, is more vivid than ever. Big Anthony and Strega Nona certainly qualify as celebrities in the realm of picture books, and this latest installment will bring smiles to the faces of their young fans.-Sue Sherif, Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, AK
Christiansen

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