Danielle Carlson
Professor Villeneuve
Engl 293
8, March, 2015
A Big Pot of Anxiety: Pictorial Techniques in “Strega Nona” “A pictures worth a thousand words”, is an extremely popular phrase that almost every individual has heard of. This quote is well known due to the accuracy of the statement. When reading any book with illustration, there are many hidden meanings the illustrator uses to help communicate the emotion, theme, or moral of the story. In a way, the picture is telling more stories than one. In the children’s book, “Strega Nona”, an old tale retold and illustrated by Tommie de Paola, we follow an old lady named Strega Nona and her assistant Big Anthony. In the story, Strega Nona has a magic pasta pot that Big Anthony is forbidden to touch. However, when Anthony does not listen and touches the pot, it causes unfortunate problems and tension for him and the people in town. Through the use of pictorial techniques, Paola produces a feeling of anxiety.
Shapes in, “Strega Nona” helps convey anxiety. When looking at the photo, the first thing the reader notices is that the picture is in a box. When examining the picture more attentively, the reader can see that all of the characters are placed in that picture box except the pasta. In fact, the pasta is so immense that it protrudes out of the box. The illustrator drew the image like this to show the power of the pasta as well as convey the fear of the people. According to Perry Nodelman, “Characters inside boxes often seem oppressed” (Patterson). Paola illustrated the pasta to purposely to extend out of the box to oppress the characters and create a feeling of anxiety. The shapes within the picture also create anxiety with the way the two main characters are drawn. When looking at the illustration we notice Big Anthony and Strega Nona. Strega Nona is drawn with round shapes and no sharp edges, while Big Anthony is mostly drawn with pointed shapes. According to Molly Bang, “We feel more scared looking at pointed shapes; we feel more secure looking at rounded shapes and curves” (Patterson). The illustrator created the characters this way purposely; when the reader looks at Big Anthony they experience nervousness and fearfulness because of his sharp features. However, when they look at Strega Nona and her round demeanor, the feel safe and secure because they know she can solve this anxiety they are feeling as well as the problem within the story.
Position throughout the story also helps and conveys anxiety. When glancing at the illustration, we notice that the huge amount of pasta is coming from the upper left hand side all the way to the middle of the page. According to Molly Bang: “The upper half of a picture is a place of freedom, happiness, and triumph; objects placed in the top half often feel more ‘spiritual’” (Patterson). The interesting thing about this picture is that the upper half of the picture is not something that is bring the characters “happiness” and the pasta is most defiantly not “spiritual”. In most illustrations good things, such as the protagonist, are placed in the upper half of the page to create a sense of freedom. In this case the protagonist is located on the bottom half of the page, confusing the reader. Thus, the picture does not convey a sense of freedom but instead anxiety. The anxiety is created when switching the expected norm with something that scares the characters as well as the reader.
In children’s literature, illustrations play such an important role in helping communicate the overall message and feeling in the story. From the picture chosen from, “Strega Nona” the reader can detect a feeling of anxiety due to the illustrator’s use of shape and position. If there were no pictures in this children’s story, the emotion and theme throughout the story might be weaker or not that apparent. Pictures help uncover hidden secrets within a story as well as create a sense of deeper meaning for the book. Without these powerful illustrations, the reader would only obtain half of the message.

Works Cited
DePaola, Tomie. Strega Nona: An Old Tale. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1975. Print.
Patterson, Kathy. “Pictorial Dynamics.” Cal State Fullerton. 10 March, 2015. Class handout.