Strega Nona Is Not a Communist

The other day I saw this meme.

Variations of this meme, which depict Strega Nona, the beloved “Grandma Witch” created by the late children’s book author Tomie dePaola, as an exemplar of mutual aid and socialist praxis, appear quite regularly. Given the internet’s limitless appetite for deciding anything people have affectionate feelings toward is Actually Anti-Capitalist, it was perhaps inevitable that Strega Nona’s draft number should come up. Unfortunately, as a person who has read Strega Nona (and its many sequels) to his toddler one thousand times over the last year, I must insist everyone knock it off. Strega Nona is not your Marxist meemaw. Strega Nona is going to be the first one up against the wall.

I could retype this book from memory, but I’ll keep the plot summary…