Renowned Meriden-Born Author’s Postage Stamp To Be Celebrated Locally

MERIDEN, CT — The new postage stamp honoring Meriden-born author Tomie dePaola will be celebrated at a special stamp unveiling and story hour this week at the Meriden Public Library.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Friday, May 19 at the Meriden Public Library’s temporary location at the Meriden Mall, 470 Lewis Ave., Unit 4036.

dePaola, a renowned children’s book author and illustrator was born in Meriden on Sept. 15, 1934, to a barber father and a homemaker mother. His family was close-knit, and his paternal grandparents hailed from the region of Italy where he set his best-known series of picture books.

The stamp honors dePaola (1934–2020), whose “extraordinarily varied body of work encompasses folk tales and legends, informational books, religious and holiday stories, and touching autobiographical accounts,” according to a news release. “His illustrations are immediately recognizable by their clean, bold lines and uncomplicated shapes. Deceptively simple, dePaola’s stories contain layers of emotional meaning and appeal to readers of all ages.”

The stamp art features a detail from the cover of “Strega Nona” (1975), a Caldecott Honor Book and the first in a popular series. The title character, “Grandma Witch” in Italian, uses magic to cure her neighbors’ ills and to help with matters of the heart. The stamp image shows her carrying her magic pasta pot.