1950 - Song of the Swallows

The thirteenth book to be awarded the Caldecott Medal was Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi, published in 1949 by Scribner.

Song of the Swallows takes place in Capistrano and follows a young boy, Juan, who befriended "old Julian", the bell ringer and gardener of a local Mission church.  On his way to and from school Juan would stop and visit with Julian who, in turn, taught Juan the history of the Mission, showed the boy his plants and flowers and told him about the birds.  Juan's favorite birds were the swallows, also known by their Spanish name los golondrinas.  The swallows flew to Capistrano every spring on Saint Joseph's Day and stayed through summer before flying south for the cold months.  

Who was Leo Politi?

Photo from the March 11, 1950 L.A. Daily News

Born November 21, 1908 in Fresno, California, Atiglio Leoni Politi was the youngest of two, he had an older sister Marie Therese.  When he was five, Leo's family moved to Italy where he would grow up in his mother's hometown of Broni.

When his father, Lodovico, left the family to take a job as a cobbler,  his sister was sent to live with an aunt who operated a roadside inn and Leo was sent to a boarding home run by an elderly woman and her daughter.  Leo loved living in Broni and he was always drawing, sketching daily life in the village.

In 1920, the Politi family reunited and moved to London where Leo was exposed to new and more culture than he had ever known in Broni.  He enjoyed going to see films and wandering museums to study art.  A year later, the family moved back to Broni and not long after that, Leo began studying art on a six-year scholarship at the Superior Institute of Fine Arts near Milan.

In 1931, Politi returned to California.  During his travels, he sketched often and made up stories about the things he saw.  He was greatly influenced by the Mayan culture and developed a palette of core colors that he used in his artwork during the 1930s and 1940s.  

Artist Buckley Mac-Gurrin, an art critic for the magazine Script wrote in a cover story of Politi in 1940 that “Leo became proficient in the use of many media – oil, watercolor, wood-carving, wood engraving, lithography, book illustration; he had a very fine artistic education. His training was modern as opposed to academic; it tended to develop originality rather than subservient to the art forms of bygone eras. His own artistic philosophy drew him toward the genuine and the earthy; toward people whose contact with the soil was still fresh, intimate, satisfying.”

Politi set up shop on Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles where he sketched tourists and sold paintings.  He had a special affection for Mexican-Americans and he especially enjoyed painting children.  His career in America grew as he painted and drew Mexican children for books and magazines.  

Politi painted the mural "The Blessing of the Animals" on Olvera Street, depicting the Catholic tradition in remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi's love of animals.  

In 1938, Politi published his first children's book, Little Pancho, the story of a defiant little Mexican boy on an adventure.  The book was based on a boy Politi saw on Olvera Street who never smiled.  His book caught the attention of Script magazine and he went on to become the magazine's art editor. 

He would publish a total of twenty children's books including 1947 Caldecott Honor book Pedro: The Angel of Olvera Street and 1949 Caldecott Honor book Juanita.  Politi also illustrated books for other authors, including Ruth Sawyer, Margarita Lopez and Esther Brown, and Helen Garrett.

Leo Politi married Helen Fontes in 1933 and they had a son, Paul.  Politi died on March 25, 1996.

In 1980, the Fresno Public Library named a wing after him and in 1991, Leo Politi Elementary School in Koreatown in Los Angeles was named for him.  

The Illustrations

Leo Politi once described his technique that was greatly influenced by his attraction to Mayan culture: "(I) developed an ochre yellow, burnt sienna and a number of brown tints symbolic of the warmth and earthy qualities of the life and vegetation of the tropical Central American jungle."

These influences really come through in the artwork of Song of the Swallows.  The pictures alternate between brightly colored images, like the one above, and more earthy tones of burnt sienna, browns, and roses.

The friendship between Juan, the young boy, and Julian, the bell ringer and gardener, is sweet and endearing.  Old Julian obviously loves his work and takes great pride in it.  With patience and pleasure, Julian teaches Juan about plants, flowers, and birds.  

Juan is a sensitive boy with a love of nature and animals, particularly the swallows.  Every spring, the swallows returned to Capistrano and at the end of summer, much to Juan's sadness, the swallows leave.

When Julian explains that the swallows will always return "where there are flowers and fresh water streams, and people who welcome and love them", Juan decides to spend his summer vacation making a garden at his own home. 

As fall and winter settled in, Juan noticed how quiet the Mission's gardens were without the swallows there to sing.  As he passed on his way to and from school, Juan would hum a song:

As Saint Joseph's Day, March 19, arrived, Juan and his friends gathered to greet the swallows.

Much to Juan's excitement, two swallows flew to his garden and built a nest where he could see them from his window.

Song of the Swallows is not a quick read, it is a rather long story for a picture book and probably won't hold the attention of younger children. It is beautifully illustrated with the people and colors showing Politi's love of the Mexican culture and the techniques he perfected using his core colors. However, I'm not entirely sure if it stands the test of time.  It does feel dated in a nostalgic way.  This is a book I see a grandparent sharing with their grandchild because it is something they enjoyed as a child, not because it is something they see on a shelf and pick up on a whim.

1950 Caldecott Honor Books

America's Ethan Allen, illustrated by Lyn Ward, written by Stewart Holbrook

The Wild Birthday Cake, illustrated by Hildegard Woodward, written by Lavinia R. Davis

The Happy Day illustrated by Marc Simon, written by Ruth Krauss
Bartholomew and the Oobleck: (Caldecott Honor Book) (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss
Henry Fisherman, by Marcia Brown