Song of the Swallows Artist Biography The author and illustrator team

The author and illustrator team behind the classic Brown Bear

but some want her mother’s delicious soup

Written for beginning readers using only 75 different words

From their heads down to their toes

Song of the Swallows Artist Biography The author and illustrator teamSong of the Swallows, which won the Caldecott Medal when it was first published in 1948, was written and illustrated by Leo Politi, one of Los Angeles' most beloved artists. It tells the famous story of the yearly return of the swallows to the Mission San Juan Capistrano through the eyes of a small child. Julian, the bell ringer of the Mission, tells Juan, a young boy who also lives at the Mission, the story of the swallows and how without anyone