Luigi and the Barefoot Races

On Regent Street in Philadelphia, stories are still told of Luigi, who could run faster than anybody and never lost a race on those long-ago summer evenings when neighbors would gather on front stoops to watch. They say Luigi always ran barefoot. And they speak of his greatest challenge―the race nobody thought he could win, not even Luigi himself.

They say Luigi always ran barefoot. And they speak of his greatest challenge―the race nobody thought he could win, not even Luigi himself.

Maybe it’s urban legend, or maybe the true events have acquired added luster in Dan Paley’s memory. After all, a story this amazing couldn’t possibly be true, could it?

• Suffused with nostalgia for soft summer evenings in a city neighborhood, with kids playing in the street, neighbors visiting, twilight seeming like it would never end….
• A tall tale that kids will never tire of.
• Aaron Boyd’s colorful illustrations vividly recreate an urban Philadelphia street and its houses, shops, and memorable people.

Fountas & Pinnell Level M Color throughout

DAN PALEY is the author of Luigi and the Barefoot Races and has written for the Wall Street Journal, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, among other publications.

Aaron Boyd is the illustrator of 25 children’s books including Luigi and the Barefoot Races, Babu’s Song, Daddy Goes to Work, and the Panda Goes to School series. His pop-up Storybook Year won a Clio Top 4 award and was inducted into the Smithsonian Rare Books collection. He has also received Children’s Africana Book, Choices Sports, Notable Children’s Book, and Hermes Creative awards, and his advertising graphics have received Addy Gold and Graphis awards.