Juan is a young boy who lives nearby a California mission. He is friends with an old gardener, Julian. They both love the swallows that live at the mission, and are sad to see them go when they migrate for the winter. Juan prepares his home and garden for when the swallows return on St. Joseph's Day.

Juan is a young boy who lives nearby a California mission. He is friends with an old gardener, Julian. They both love the swallows that live at the mission, and are sad to see them go when they migrate for the winter. Juan prepares his home and garden for when the swallows return on St. Joseph's Day.

Every summer, the swallows leave San Juan Capistrano and fly far away, to a peaceful green island -- but they always come back in the spring, on St. Joseph's Day. Juan loves "las golondrinas," and so does his friend, Julian, the gardener at the mission.

This year, Juan plants a garden in his own yard. There's nothing he wants more than for the swallows to nest there. And on St. Joseph's Day, his dream comes true.

Leo Politi is the beloved author and illustrator of "Pedro, The Angel of Olvera Street," among many other books for children. "Song of the Swallows" won the Caldecott Medal in 1950.

NA

00004067