Tomie dePaola began making preparations over fifty years ago to become the celebrated artist and author he is today.  At the age of four, Tomie declared his desire to be an artist and author, and at age ten he made his first book for his sister's birthday.  After earning a bachelor's, master's and doctoral equivalent in fine arts, Tomie illustrated his first published book at age thirty.  Over two hundred children's books later, Tomie has embarked on the new venture of writing and illustrating an autobiographical chapter book series.   Tomie dePaola became something the day he was born.  Fortunately, his innate gifts and talents were nurtured by supportive parents and a close-knit family, and, consequently, countless lives have been enriched by Tomie's lifetime of preparations.
        Much has been written about this children's literature icon in books, articles and especially on the Internet. Almost anything one would want to know about Tomie, including his education, publications, artworks, honors and awards can be found at www.tomiedepaola.com.  In keeping with Tomie's long-standing desire to add to the culture of man, the following annotated bibliography is a selection of Tomie's works that teachers can use in conjunction with timely topics in today's classroom.
        In today's society, aligning academics with state standards is just a beginning step in providing a worthy education.  Children must also be exposed to qualities and traits that could help them make positive contributions to the world around them, and in so doing, continue to add to the culture of man.  Since most, if not all, of Tomie's books convey the general themes of love, generosity and being happy with oneself, they are excellent springboards for this purpose.  More specifically, one can align his books with the six pillars of the Character Counts program now used in many schools and communities.  The following bibliography is merely a glimpse of the possible uses for the large body of work contributed by this accomplished author.
          Just like Tomie, each student becomes something the day they are born.  What they continue to become greatly depends on lifetime preparations.  Teachers are vital orchestrators and important contributors to those preparations.  These Tomie Topics may provide a foundation for those contributions.

Strega Nona. Prentice-Hall, 1975
    This well-known Caldecott Honor winner (1976) depicts the dutiful, hard-working "Grandma Witch," who tries to make a difference in her Italian village by always helping others with advice, comfort, cures, magic, and love. She is the epitome of someone who makes all she does worthy of pride. She is also a wonderful example of prudence, self-decipline and self-reliance. On the other hand, her helper, Big Anthony, is a study in accountability, or more accurately, learning how to be accountable. When he makes the poor choice of trying Strega Nona's magic pasta pot without knowing the entire spell, he causes chaos in the village when pasta nearly overtakes the town.

Big Anthony and the Magic Ring. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979
    Again, Big Anthony makes a poor choice by "borrowing" Strega Nona's magic ring without knowing the entire spell.  The ring makes him into a different person, handsome and charming, for an evening on the town, and, again, it is too much for him to handle.  Too much attention causes him to race for home to release the spell, which can only be done with Strega Nona's help.  Big Anthony continues to need help with self-control and accountability.

Charlie Needs a Cloak. Prentice-Hall, 1973
    Tomie dePaola's first informational book that he both wrote and illustrated simply depicts the process by which wool becomes cloth and then clothing.  The story is one of resourcefulness, duty, self-control and pursuit of excellence demonstrated by a young shepard boy simply by the act of diligently shearing sheep, processing and weaving the wool into cloth, and making the cloth into a cape to keep himself warm while he performs his sheparding duties.

Pancakes for Breakfast. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978
    Tomie dePaola's first wordless picture book is the story of a woman who lives alone on a farm, and wakes up with the desire to have pancakes. Since she has none of the ingredients handy, she diligently collects them by milking the cow, gathering eggs from the hens, etc. To her dismay, her cats eat all the ingredients before she can make her pancakes. Nonetheless, she perseveres, takes charge, keeps a positive outlook and finally achieves her goal by eating at her neighbor's house.

The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. G.P.Putnam's Sons 1988
    This Native American legend explains the origin of the Indian Paintbrush, a plant that blooms throughout Texas, Wyoming and other plains states.  The story is of an Indian boy who is not as physically talented as the other boys of the tribe, but is a gifted artist instead. It becomes clear to him that his duty is to paint pictures to record the life of his tribe, and his vision is to paint the perfect beauty of the sunset to share with his people.  He perseveres, does his very best, and eventually paints his vision, which is finally worthy of his pride.

Days of the Blackbird. G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1997
    The core of this Italian folktale is the love, compassion and support of a daughter for her ailing father, as well as the charity of a white bird, La Columba.  When her loving father, Duca Gennaro, becomes ill and bedridden, Gemma implores the courtyard birds to stay through the winter because their singing makes her father feel better.  One bird, La Columba, remains to cheer Duca and bring him hope. During the coldest and final three days of January, La Columba finds warmth in a sooty chimney, and returns to sing for the father.  Because of the soot, the white bird is now a blackbird, La Merla.  Duca Gennaro recovers thanks to the concern and charity of his daughter and the bird, and he declares the last three days in January to be the Days of the Blackbird, La Giornate della Merla.

The Legend of the Poinsettia. G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1994
    This Mexican legend tells the story of a little girl, Lucida, whose mother becomes ill for Christmas, and, consequently, cannot finish the blanket she was making as a gift for the church's Christmas celebration. Lucida is upset because she has nothing special to bring to the Baby Jesus.  She wants to give something, so she brings an armful of "weeds" she finds along the path to church. As others are making fun of her and her gift, she lays her offering around the manger, and the weeds turn into beautiful red stars.  The people of Mexico call the plants "la Flor de Nochebuena -- the Flower of the Holy Night -- the poinsettia."
(Tomie dePaola publishes a Christmas book every year, which might be useful for anyone teaching in a parochial school.)

Little Grunt and the Big Egg. Holiday House, 1990
    This whimsical prehistoric fairy tale demonstrates the love, compassion and kindness of a caveboy for his pet dinosaur.  In return for the considerate treatment, the dinosaur shows his gratitude by saving the little boy and his family from an erupting volcano.

The Hunter and the Animals. Holiday House, 1981
    This exceptionally beautiful wordless picture book relates the story of a hunter who sets out to kill the forest animals, as hunters do. The animals are warned by a bluebird, and are able to hide. When the hunter falls asleep after failing to find any animals, the animals take his gun, and rearrange the area to make the hunter feel lost when he awakens. When the hunter gets cold, hungry and sad, the animals feel sorry for him, forgive him, and lead him back home. The hunter realizes that the animals are his friends, and breaks the gun that the animals returned to him.

Oliver Button is a Sissy. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979
    Oliver is not your typical athletic boy, but loves to draw and dance.  As a result of his differences, he is relentlessly teased. Graffiti on the school wall proclaims that he is a sissy. Because of his dancing talent, Oliver is encouraged to enter the talent show.  When the other students see him perform, they call him a star instead of a sissy.  This autobiographical story simply and directly teaches respect, the value of others, tolerance and acceptance. It also obviously touches on the topic of courtesy.

The Art Lesson. G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1989
    Tommy is anxious to start school and have real art lessons because he loves to draw, and knows he wants to be a professional artist.  Drawing is his favorite activity, just like one of his friend's favorite thing to do is cartwheels, and another's is making cities from sand, and another's is collecting turtles.
He is disappointed to learn that his teacher will not let him use his big box of crayons, warns the students not to dull the points of the school crayons, and allows each student only one piece of paper.  Worse yet, they have to copy her drawing, and Tommy already knows that good artists don't copy. The problem is somewhat resolved when the art teacher allows Tommy to draw an original picture after he copies hers.  This autobiographical story is probably one of the most important ones for teachers to internalize. In a subtle way it touches on the topic of respecting the dignity, autonomy and freedom of individuals, as well as listening to others and respecting their points of view.  As the author points out, even children have their favorite interests, and those interests, usually hints of innate talents, should be respected and fostered, not squelched by teachers.

Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs. G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1973,1998
    Tomie dePaola claims this as his favorite book.  The 1998 reillustrated version is his 200th illustrated book.  The autobiographical story honors the relationships between his grandmother, great-grandmother and himself, and the care and utmost respect they show one another despite the age differences. This story not only gracefully deals with the topic of the death of loved ones, but beautifully illustrates the ideal of the Golden Rule.

Now One Foot, Now the Other. G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1981
    When his grandfather suffers a stroke, Bobby is frightened by the change in his best friend, but his love and respect remain strong enough to help Bobby be the one who really helps his grandfather recover.  Bobby helps his grandfather learn to walk, just as his grandfather had helped him when he was little.  This is yet another instance where dePaola draws on his own experience to create a story that promotes the Golden Rule, tolerance, acceptance, and courtesy.

Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose. G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1985
    There are many special features of this version of the Mother Goose collection of poetry, including, of course, the artwork, but what is most unique is dePaola's use of a variety of cultures and ages for the characters of the rhymes, reflecting the diversity of today's American society, clearly valuing,  honoring, and accepting all people.

Bill and Pete to the Rescue. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1998
    This is the ultimate Tomie book about every aspect of trustworthiness and friendship. Bill the crocodile and Pete the bird are best friends (Pete is actually Bill's toothbrush!) who travel from the Nile to New Orleans to rescue Bill's cousin from the Bad Guy's Big Bad Brother, who steals crocodiles to sell to people who make crocodile suitcases and the like. In the process, Pete is captured by the Rich Lady, so Bill has to rescue him, too. The illustrations are bright and beautiful, and the story has a surprise happy ending.

Sing, Pierrot, Sing. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983
    This brilliantly illustrated wordless picture book ("a picture book in mime") tells the story of unrequited love, and the finding of love and friendship from others. Although it has no words, it beautifully touches on all the topics of trustworthiness.

CITIZENSHIP
DO YOUR SHARE
Be a good citizen and a good neighbor. Care about and pursue the common good.
Be a volunteer. Protect the environment.
Participate in making things better by voicing your opinion, voting, serving on committees,
reporting wrongdoing, and paying taxes.
RESPECT AUTHORITY AND THE LAW
Play by the rules. Obey parents, teachers, coaches.
Observe just laws. Honor and respect principles of democracy.

The Mysterious Giant of Barletta. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984
    In this Italian folktale, a giant statue saves the town of Barletta from the approaching army by playing a trick, pretending he is the smallest boy in the town.  The army quickly retreats.

Bonjour, Mr. Satie. G.P.Putnam's Sons. 1991
    A cat named Mr.Satie travels to Paris, and ends up being a peacemaker in the artistic duel between Pablo (Picasso) and Henrie (Matisse).  When asked to decide which artist is the best, he diplomatically and fairly says that they are equal in the way that they cannot be compared.  He demonstrates judicial openmindedness and impartiality when he deems that both artists have value in their own right.

Celebrating Cultures With Tomie dePaola   http://www.memphis-schools.k12.tn.us/admin/tlapages/culture.html
Children's Literature: Tomie dePaola           http://www.childrenslit.com/f_depaola.html
ERIC REC Bibliographies                             http://eric.indiana.edu/www/digbib/bibprint.cgi?filename=depaola.txt
Tomie dePaola                                            http://www.tomiedepaola.com
Tomie dePaola: Teacher Resource File       http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyo:/depaola.htm

Character Counts - Albuquerque                   http://www.abqcharactercounts.org/

26 Fairmount Avenue. (1999). New York, NY: G.P.Putnam's Sons
Here We All Are. (2000). New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons
On My Way. (2001). New York, NY: G.P.Putnam's Sons