It is a story of faith, a story of Pedro and Little Brother and the wonderful church with a chime of bells that had not rung for many years. Why they did ring at last makes a Christmas tale that has become a classic.

Its warm, tender message is ever new. The story is read in families, in Sunday schools, in kindergartens, in schools, in the children's rooms of libraries and on the air. The play made from it is performed all over the country, year after year. So completely has this story been accepted that many who hear it believe it to be folklore, a legend that has come down to us through the centuries—and this is perhaps the best warranty of its beauty and simple truth.

From the dust jacket of the 1954 edition illustrated by Rafaello Busoni