By Cathy Miranker

This year marks the golden anniversary of Strega Nona, the stern but lovable “grandma witch” who casts a pasta-making spell so her cauldron always has supper ready on time! She’s been beloved ever since her debut in 1975, when she saved her Calabrian town from a spaghetti avalanche that her not-so-helpful helper, Big Anthony, accidentally unleashed.

Illustration from the children's book Strega Nona, written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. In a large courtyard several groups of people are clumped about; on the edge of the page, what appears to be waves of pasta are flooding in and threatening to overtake the people. Birds are flying away and one man is holding his arms out to the pasta as if to ward it away

The original watercolors for the first book in the series by author and illustrator Tomie dePaola are among the treasures in the Kerlan Collection of Children’s Literature at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis—always open to the public, always free.

In a Halloween interview with Minnesota Public Radio, Kerlan curator Lisa Von Drasek said dePaola wanted his artwork at the Kerlan “because we’re open access. I have classes with eight-year-olds, I have classes with graduate students, and all of them have the opportunity to hold these materials in their hands!”

Asked recently by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) News why this 50-year old-old book continues to find new audiences, Von Drasek said: “Why Strega Nona? It’s a picture book that’s like a hug.”