Brava, Strega Nona! A Heartwarming Pop-up Book by Tomie dePaola, Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart.

While the subtitle claims to be a heartwarming pop-up book, I would describe it as a heart-stopping pop-up book.  Some of the pages fly open to form such complex and amazing structures that I found myself simply sitting and closing and opening the book again and again to see the pop-up work. 

The combination of dePaola’s simple illustrations and these amazing pop-ups is utterly charming.  Though the pop-ups are complex but stay in tune with the style of the illustrations, embracing the feel of Strega Nona entirely. 

This is a winner of a pop-up book.  My favorite spread is the grape arbor which pops to life before your eyes.  Though I must say that the one that got a gasp out of me is the noodles spilling – literally- right into the reader’s face.  Enjoyable and great fun, this of course will not survive classroom use or public checkouts in a library.  But what a treat to pull out for special storytimes.