Gemma, a young girl living in the mountains of northern Italy, asks the blackbirds to sing to her ailing father, Duca Gennaro, and only one blackbird decides to remain when the weather becomes cooler, in the story of the origins of the Days of the Blackbird.---from the publisher
32 pages 978-0399229299 Ages 4-8
Keywords: folktale, birds, illness, father/daughter, loyalty, migration, Europe, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old
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In this elegant tale, Tomie dePaola imagines how the Days of the Blackbird in northern Italy came to be. Gemma and her father, the Duke of Gennaro, live in a house with a courtyard that fills with birds of all colors through the spring and summer. When the Duke falls ill at the end of summer, Gemma begs the birds to stay to raise his spirits with their song. However, as snow and fierce winds begin to swirl down on the village, the birds must fly south to stay warm, and eventually only one loyal bird remains. ---from the publlisher
