tomie depaola

Celebrating Tomie dePaola

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As I mentioned briefly in yesterday’s Mental Health Monday post, September 15th would have been writer/illustrator Tomie dePaola’s eighty-ninth birthday. Sadly, he died in 2020 from complications to a bad fall he had at his studio. He wrote over 250 children’s books, writing full time after retiring from teaching in 1978.

His books were a staple in my classrooms over the years, often having parts of the curriculum built around specific books and themes that he wrote about. Two of my favorites were Strega Nona and Charlie Needs a Cloak. Legend of the Indian Paintbrush was something I brought out during November and the Thanksgiving lessons to build around true Native American mythos rather than the stereotypical Pilgrims and Indians tropes that continue to be taught. The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote was another one that brought another culture alive for the children in my classes. He wrote many books on holidays, primarily Christmas.

Tomie was a devoted Catholic. One of my favorite houses to visit on retreat has a mural in their chapel that he painted in 1958 (he was 24 years old!), depicting the Blessed Mother with some Dominican friends: St. Rose of Lima, Blessed Jane of Aza, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Catherine de ’Ricci, St. Mary Magdalen, and St. Maria Goretti.

I never get tired of sitting with it, praying, and thinking of Tomie and his stories.

Mural by Tomie dePaola

Visit his website, which lists all of his books as well as offering his biography. There is also a link to The Tomie dePaola Art Education Fund.

Recently, Tomie was honored with a series of US Postal stamps, seen below. You may find them at your local post office.

This Week’s Theme: Reading

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I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but since the beginning of the year I’ve tried to maintain daily features and a weekly theme to tie my posts together a bit more.

I’ve also included my recent blogging classes – for the next two weeks I’ll be posting photos from Photography 101.

During Lent I’ve been posting a daily reflection, whatever stays in my head from my spiritual readings and thoughts. These are generally short but they’ve been open-ended, no agenda or word count.

As it hands, and as I mentioned in this morning’s prompt, it is Dr. Seuss’ birthday. He would have been 101 years old today, so this week I thought our theme would be reading, each day of the week a different genre. Today it is children’s books.

I have some favorites to share:

The Magic Tunnel by Caroline Emerson – kids, NYC subways, time travel, history.

It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw – white shapes on a blue background, great for the imagination and crafts with cotton balls. Good for laying in the grass liking up at the clouds. I also made a flannel board set to go with this book.

Castle by David Macaulay – the inner workings of building a medieval Welsh castle. All of his books are brilliantly written and illustrated and can be adapted for all ages. As a teacher I used them with preschoolers and middle schoolers. I recommend all of his works.

Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola – beautiful, gentle work, both secular and religious. In fact, at the retreat center I just returned from, he drew the mural in their chapel in 1958. Again, I recommend all of his works.

Tomorrow we’ll look at history and historical fiction.