Tomie dePaola was born on September 15, and today, I want to honor him.

In addition to being a writer and a painter, I am also a gardener, and recently, I began looking at the healing properties of plants. As research often does, that research led me again to dePaola’s Strega Nona, the Grandma Witch and Healing Crone.  As I jumped down the rabbit hole of researching healing crones, I began to realize the massive amount of research that dePaola must have done–to create his books.

A Historical Look at Healing Crones–Sometimes Grandmother Witches

Today, I want to honor Tomie’s wisdom, and how, after careful thought, he dared to re-think and re-do his illustrating style over and over again:

Tomie dePaola Changed the Appearance of Strega Nona Over Time — He Dared to Edit — He Dared to Try Something New

I also want to honor the ways in which Tomie dePaola dared to look into his own life and tell the stories from his childhood in his books:

Tomie dePaola Autobiographical Picture Books

In November, I’ll launch another Memoir Writing Event — Harvest Your Past — and we’ll look at ways that Tomie dePaola Harvested His Past to create his picture books.

Today, I want to honor Tomie dePaola’s contributions to illustrators:

The Patterns & Designs in the Books by Tomie dePaola

In December, I’ll look at Tomie dePaola’s contribution in the area of Christmas. He wrote Santa-like things about Christmas, and he also wrote about Christmas from a Christian perspective.

My picture book The Donkey’s Song was influenced by Tomie dePaola’s The Friendly Beasts. “I said the donkey all shaggy and brown. I carried his mother to Bethlehem town.”

I also want to honor the massive amount of information that dePaola has left Christian writers. I’m not sure when I’ll unpack his Christian books and create an event for that, but trust me, dePaola’s work in that area is monumental. I have written several picture books for children, and before I submit those books, I am looking at dePaola’s work in that area.

In short, today on September 15, I want to honor dePaola for the many, many ways that he has left lessons for potential picture book writers — I want to thank him for what I have learned from him.