This one one of Leo Politi's last books that he illustrated for the San Pedro Library. Leo shares his creative gift while this non-profit organization shares thier yummy receipes. If you love Leo ... you'll treasure this book!

My son fell on love with this book when he was 6 or 7 years old, shortly after it came out, and we borrowed it from the library. I remember how he studied all the detailed pictures at great length, and had me read this book to him innumerable times. I am now searching for it to give it to his children to enjoy.

This is an old picture book that won the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1950. It is a cute tale of a young Mexican-American boy who lives by the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Juan visits the mission coming home from school to visit his friend Julian, the old gentleman who works there.

The colorful drawings evoke San Juan years and years ago and are very touching, especially if you live in that area or have visited. The story of the swallows coming to Capistrano on St. Joseph's Day also shows the qualities of patience and hope little Juan has. He plants a garden to attract the swallows to his adobe home as well. A beautiful and timeless tale.

My 7 year old son reads at least 10 books a week. He most recently completed the original unabridged version of Doctor Dolittle, and he has read many Caldicott winners. Even though it has been months since he read this book, he claims that Song of the Swallows is his all time favorite.

This summer the swallows returned to San Juan Capistrano, but many didn't nest at the mission. Due to restoration work at the mission, many of the swallows decided to nest at a single family home nearby. A family of swallows even decided to nest in the high entranceway to my neighbor's house here in Whittier [about an hour north of SJC]. It reminded me that it was time to get out my copy of Leo Politi's beautiful book Song Of The Swallows and read it again. This excellently illustrated book tells the story of the yearly nesting of the swallows through the story of the relationship between Julian, a bell ringer at the mission, and Juan, a young school boy who lives nearby. Politi's exquisite art tells the story as much or more than his words. This was one of my favorite story books from my childhood and I'm lucky to still have the copy given to me as a young boy. The story still enchants me in my middle ages. Like many older copies of Politi's books, my copy was personalized to me by Politi [he didn't just sign the books, he did a personal watercolor on the front endpaper]. Please make this story a part of your child's personal library.

Politi does a great job of conveying a culture that is beautiful and real. The story shows how wonderful family is and how resourceful we can be. It is also educational showing some Spanish words and giving their English meaning. It also demonstrates Mexican cooking and includes a couple of recipes in the back of the book. This book isn't very long and is certainly worth sitting down and reading with your child.

-Mark