I really liked this Strega Nona book! It was touching, it had good, positive messages, and best of all, it made the kids I was reading it to feel empathy for the characters. I'm not generally a huge fan of Christmas-themed books--I usually find them to be heavy-handed and sappy. Not this one--I thought the tone was lovely and uplifiting without being all gooey. What a wonderful Strega Nona book!