Tomie dePaola – the affable local author and illustrator whose children’s books have sold 25 million copies worldwide, but whose book about a benevolent witch was banned in several U.S. school libraries for its positive views on witchcraft – will never be banned from the United States Postal Service.

Not after the USPS unveiled a stamp on Friday with the controversial witch, Strega Nona, pictured wearing her trademark scarf over her head and apron around her waist. She’s holding her cauldron and greeting a peacock on a tree as a rabbit looks on from nearby.

The stamp honors dePaola’s work across six decades and is known as the Forever Stamp, meaning it should send your mail in perpetuity. DePaola died in 2020 at the age of 85.

The celebration was held at the Currier Art Museum and included former Granite State First Lady and museum board member Dr. Susan Lynch, as well as other officials from the Currier, publishers and educators.

Steve Monteith, the chief customer and marketing officer, was the spokesperson at the ceremony and said about dePaola:

“There are many gifted chil dren’s book authors and illustrators, but Tomie dePaola’s genius is unique in so many ways. He could communicate with — and without — words, and touch readers across cultures and generations.”

DePaola drew Strega Nona while meeting with colleagues at Colby Sawyer College in New London and introduced her in 1975. He was a member of the theater department at Colby and worked out of a 200-year-old barn in town.

DePaola’s work has been honored by such prestigious entities as the Smithsonian; the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show Lifetime Achievement Award; the American Library Association; and the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for, “substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.”

Elsewhere, dePaola was granted honorary degrees from Pratt Institute and Georgetown University. He wrote or illustrated more than 270 books, which have been translated into more than 20 languages.

He died three years ago after complications arose during surgery, needed because of a fall.

Meanwhile, the Currier Museum created the Tomie dePaola Art Education Fund following his death to provide instruction to young artists of all backgrounds.

More than 100 pieces of dePaola’s work are displayed in the Currier Museum’s permanent collection.

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