Strega Nona

There's an aura of medieval theatre in Tomie de Paola's adaptation of the humorous Italian folktale Strega Nona.  The robust peasant humor of the tale about a greedy apprentice to Strega Nona, "Grandmother Witch," is echoed in the pictures that show the dismay of the hapless youth doomed to eat a river of pasta flowing down the street.  Sturdy, often comic, figures in framed drawings are softly colored and nicely integrated with the textual references.