Where It All Goes Down
Calabria, Italy: A Long Time Ago
Get the Boot
As Tomie dePaola is fond of pointing out, Calabria is located in the toe of the boot that is Italy (source). And Strega Nona takes place in a small town somewhere in that region. The other detail we learn about the setting in the very first sentence of the book is that it takes place "a long time ago" (7). These two details are incredibly important not just because they identify the setting, but because they also help to firmly place Strega Nona in the Italian folktale genre.
In a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Many fairy tales and folk tales begin with the words, "Once upon a time," or "A long time ago," and it isn't just because the writers of these stories are lazy. It's because putting one of those phrases at the beginning of a story helps to identify it as a universal tale that has stood the test of time. Of course, Strega Nona isn't as old as some of the oldest tales out there, but so far, forty-plus years on, it's still going strong.
Back to His Roots
And dePaola, who comes from both Irish and Italian roots, clearly wanted this book to be a nod to his Italian heritage. The title character's name, Strega Nona, is Italian for Grandma Witch, and dePaola was deliberate with his illustrations in depicting Italian rooftops the way they would have appeared in the Middle Ages. Indeed, he cites the early Italian artists Giotto, Cimabue, Duccio, and Fra Angelico as his inspiration for the drawings in Strega Nona (source).
So setting the book in Italy, and specifically in Calabria, where his own grandmother hailed from, was important to dePaola. And the setting itself, both in location and time, is essential in allowing Strega Nona to take its proper place in the realm of folklore. In fact, dePaola did such a good job giving Strega Nona the feeling and flavor of an old folktale that people often mistake it for being much older than it is. For more on that, check out "Why Should I Care?" in the Intro.