Everyone in the village called Joseph "Little Donkey" because he was such a clumsy, foolish fellow. Or so they all thought.

More and more Joseph wandered off by himself. But, with the birds and the flowers in the fields as his friends, he was never unhappy. In fact, one day, when he was particularly joyful, a strange. thing happened. Joseph began to fly! 

Patricia Lee Gauch has based her warm and funny story on the legend of St. Joseph of Copertino, the patron saint of aviators.

Tomie de Paola's seventeenth-century Italian village and its colorful characters surround a spirited, happy friar who simply could not keep his feet on the ground. 

From the dust jacket