Signed by author with sketch and dedication dated 1961
Leo Politi was an artist, author, illustrator and muralist. Born in Fresno, California, Politi returned to Italy with his family and studied art. He returned to California, painted watercolors on Olvera Street, and resided in the old neighborhood of Victorian houses known as Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles before it was razed to make way for a new city. Politi wrote and illustrated over 20 children's books, plus a book titled Bunker Hill for adults. He is a three times winner of the Caldecott Award plus numerous other awards, had his art exhibited many times, and has a library named after him in Fresno as well as an elementary school and a street named after him in Los Angeles. He died on March 26, 1996.