Tommie depaola

At the end of every school year we usually allowed time to do an Author Study and each teacher would pick their own favorite author. Every year I chose Tomie dePaola. From his Strega Nona stories t…

My Tomie DePaola Book List -or- Good Books You Might Want to Read to Your Young Children if You are a Catholic Parent, or Any Other Kind of Parent, Who Thinks It's Important to Read Good Books to your Children artwork from "The Clown of God" by Tomie DePaola A few weeks ago I wrote a post about a school project we did, wherein we wrote to one of our favorite authors, Tomie DePaola. (No reply yet!) And I've had it on my brain to write about What's So Great About Tomie DePaola Anyway. If…

Tomie and Monique Cheret, of Paris, married in 1959 in Chester, Vermont. (They divorced in 1961.) Tomie's sisters and I couldn't determine what year they married, so I reached out to Tomie's Pratt Institute friend, Delli. Delli knew because the years were in black-and-white in Barbara Elleman's book about Tomie. I had come to the conclusion that most happenings in life had connections to Broadway and film songs. So, often, I would tell Tomie that something reminded me of a lyric and he…

We’re knee deep now in our Tomie dePaola author study . Each time I read The Art Lesson I’m reminded and amazed all over again at the acute recollection Tomie dePaola has of his childhood. Down to the last detail. It’s those little details in the story and illustrations that draw me in and make The Art Lesson one of my […]

We’re well into week three of our Tomie dePaola author study and knee deep in Strega Nona’s world! My class has fallen in love with the characters in these books. Their folkloric quality, Big Anthony’s bumbling, Bambolona’s brusqueness and Strega Nona’s endearing ways have captured their hearts and their attention. We began this part of […]

Tomie dePaola (pronounced Tommy da-POW-la) was best known for his books for children. He had a five-decade writing and illustrating career during which...

Immaculate Conception by Tomie dePaola. The Official Tomie dePaola Blog

© Tomie dePaola

Video interview: Tomie dePaola, the author and illustrator of Strega Nona and many other favorite books, always knew he wanted to be an artist since the age of 4. Tomie tells comical childhood tales, reflects on his career, and suggests ways to encourage young readers and artists.