The Legend of Old Befana

Old Befana liked to keep busy - sweeping and re-sweeping her home, her doorstep, and her walkway, and baking sweet-smelling treats - and didn't appreciate being interrupted. When a marvelous procession passes by her house, with three kings from afar, all seeking after a mysterious child born in Bethlehem, she refuses to follow along, claiming she has too much work to do. Later, mulling over the news of this extraordinary infant, she regrets that decision, and, baking some treats as a gift for the newborn, sets out to find him as well. But has she left it too late...?

In this lovely retelling of a traditional Christmas folktale, Tomie dePaola - whose Strega Nona was chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book, back in 1976 - sets out the story of show more how the Befana became Italy's holiday gift-giver, one who, like Santa Claus at Christmas, leaves treats for young children on Epiphany Eve (January 5). The story here is very similar to the Dominican legend concerning La Vieja Belen, and also has many parallels to the story (often incorrectly described as a "folktale") of Baboushka and the Three Kings. There is a poignancy to this tale that always gets to me, perhaps because it speaks to that feeling of regret, when we allow the mundane and everyday to eclipse the more intangible, but nevertheless important matters of the spirit. The artwork is vintage dePaola (always a good thing!), with stylized figures and appealing colors.

All in all, a wonderful Christmas story, with appealing story and artwork! Recommended to anyone looking for Italian Christmas stories, or tales of holiday gift-givers, and to fans of Tomie dePaola. show less

Before reading this book I had never heard of Old Befana but after reading it, and doing a little side research, I now know that she is basically the Italian version of Santa Claus. Without context I felt really lost reading the book so I would highly recommend that anyone planning to read this with children has a basic understanding of Old Befana before reading. It was also a bit of a sad story to me because this precious old woman was too worried about her housework, mainly sweeping, to follow the wise men. Due to her tardiness she is unable to find the baby Jesus and spends the rest of her days looking for him as she flies around handing out gifts to children. After reading more some of the story makes more sense but at the end of show more the day it is yet another story meant to keep children in good spirits during the winter season. I have always loved the illustrations by Tomie dePaola as he creates such animated depictions of people and adds such subtle details to bring to life his stories. show less

SUMMARY: This book provides the story of the Old Befana Christmas story. She is a old woman who flies across the sky on the Feast of the Three Kings (January 6th) and leaves cakes and cookies to the children as they sleep. She is in search of the Baby King of Bethlehem.

REVIEW: I think that this book gives an interesting perspective for students who are learning about new cultures. I have never heard this story before, so I was very interested while reading. The central message was giving insight on how other cultures celebrate the same holidays. The drawings of the old woman were humorous as well.

This religious sort of tale about an old poor women that sees the six-pointed star (the star of creation), which is lighting the way for a baby king to be born in Bethlehem. The baby king comes for the poor, to change the world. After Befana bakes cookies and such to bring the new king as a gift, she can't catch up with the others or find Bethlehem, but as the story goes, she is still looking. Every year on the Three Kings day, Jan. 6th she runs across the sky visiting all of the children while they sleep, she sweeps their room and leaves them goodies, for after all you never know which one might be the baby king of Bethlehem.

Before I read this story, I never even heard of the tale of Old Befana. I liked this story because it sounds like the type of story that you could read to your children at night over the holidays. I have always been a fan of holiday stories so it was no surprise to me that I enjoyed this book. I also liked the story's illustrations. I have always been a fan of Tomie DePaola's illustrations because of the way he designs his characters and all of the color that he uses in his illustrations.

This is a great book to read to students near Christmas time. I would not read this book in a public school because it supports the Christian religion and could create problems with student's parents. One could use this book in a first, second, or third grade classroom to teach students about how sometimes, despite our efforts, we still may not accomplish something, but we can still try our best. I would use this book in a writing lesson for students to discuss something that they have put a lot of effort towards, but have not yet reached their goal. They could focus on ways to reach their goals and work on writing lists. This book could also be used in a lesson when learning about myths in folk literature.

This is the story of a crabby old woman who lives alone and goes searching on her broom for Baby Jesus after she is questioned by the three searching kings. They ask if she has seen the baby that will change the world,this catches her by surprise, and she finds herself caught up in the search as well, giving candy to all the children she finds on her journey. The signature De Paola illustrations carry the reader through the story and the night sky, contrasting in bright color and fine detail the home life of Balfana and her magical journey.