St Francis, who talked to birds and animals, is the saint most loved by children, and the one with the best stories. Born in thirteenth-century Assisi, this wealthy playboy gave away everything to live a simple life, and stories surround him - how he saved the people of Gubbio by taming a fierce wolf, freed a trapped hare, quietened noisy swallows and was the first to celebrate the Nativity by making a crib scene in a church. Margaret Mayo's charming, simple narrative tells the whole of St Francis's life story, interspersed with the legends about him and his own beautiful verses in praise of creation. It is the perfect subject for Peter Malone, who embellishes it with pictures of medieval Italy that are reminiscent of the Old Masters, and is surely destined to be one of the great illustrators of our time.