Guido lives on the Ponte Vecchio, with his mother and beautiful, crippled sister, in the glorious days of Lorenzo de' Medici. Starting as an apprentice goldsmith, he observes the ways of the dyers and tanners, tries selling his city's materials: silks, brocades, etc. As fortune has it, his hands obey him best when he is working with animals or helping a friend.
From Egypt, to the great trade city comes a precious gift, the giraffe. Florence goes wild. Pins in gold represent the beast, cloth is woven to resemble the pelt. In all this, the unassuming suggestions of a mere boy for its comfort go unnoticed, except by the Arab keeper. Guido's wits sharpened by his devotion, however, enable him to foil a plot to kidnap the giraffe. As he had dreamed, before the eyes of all Florence, his sister is Queen of the festival, and, to her surprise, Guido is playing a new and satisfying role.
With this boy of Florence, the reader explores the guilds, encounters famous artists of the Renaissance, and meets danger bravely for the sake of Lorenzo the Magnificent and the Florentine giraffe.
—from the dust jacket
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