In this beloved classic picture book, Tomie dePaola retells and illustrates an Italian Christmas folk tale, breathing warmth and humanity into the character of the lonely Old Befana and her endless search for the Christ Child.

Every morning and every afternoon, Old Befana sweeps with her broom. “Cranky old lady,” the children say. “She is always sweeping!” Sweep, sweep, sweep. But when a brilliant star glows in the eastern sky one night, and Old Befana encounters the glorious procession of three kings on their way to Bethlehem, her little world will never be the same.

This is the book my cousin Marietta reads each Epiphany, while other cousins of mine act out the parts. We did a special recording of the reading one year for the Stay Awake Bedtime Stories series from the Jaffe Center for Book Arts! Watch it here.

Hardcover children's book, unpaginated. 2017 edition of the original 1980 text.