In 1966, I was a child when the Arno River in Italy overflowed, flooding the city of Florence along its banks. I didn’t hear about the flood then, despite it being on the national news, and I had heard nothing about it since. So I was shocked to read this book and learn how university students from the U.S. played a role in saving thousands of Italian manuscripts, especially centuries-old, hand-made books from the mud-slopped depths of Florence’s Central Library.

Think of Florence’s Central Library as an institution akin to the Library of Congress. And think what it would be like if such an important repository of a nation’s written culture was flooded and its lower levels—containing original manuscripts from centuries past (we’re talking really really really old because this is Italy, after all)—ended up under several feet of mud from a flood. The devastation would be horrific. Such was the case for Florence.

To give you an idea of the extent of the restoration required, roughly three million books were damaged. Sixty years later there are still more than 18,000 books waiting to be restored!!!! It boggles my mind.

The story unfolds through the eyes of a central fictional character, a great-great-great-granddaughter of an author whose work is shelved at the library. It is a handprinted manuscript, so we know that it is a one-of-a-kind.

The girl first witnesses the flood and then wants to help dig out her g-g-g-grandpa’s book from the mud. But it is too dangerous for someone so small. Instead, she watches as the students step up to help. Despite the danger of digging through mud permeated by oil and other toxic chemicals, and despite the unmentioned bodies of things killed in the mud’s path, the students worked for days to help. Covered in mud. No water to shower or clean clothes. No electricity. And the stench of toxic mud.

The illustrator, Olga Lee, did an amazing job of showing the flood and its destruction, without showing some of the more gruesome elements that the students faced.

One more spread to give you an idea….

But what is key to the telling of this story is not the devastation, but the selfless response of the students, who “did what needed to be done” and by doing so, helped strangers save a portion of their cultural treasures. Empathy builds bridges, crosses cultures and languages, and creates a sense of community.

I attended the launch party for the book, and two of the student “mud angels”—as the Italians call them—participated, telling their stories and acknowledging that they will never forget the smell of that mud. But they kept saying that they were just doing what needed to be done. It didn’t occur to them not to help.

Kudos to the author, Karen Greenwald, who put in an extraordinary amount of research, recording hours and hours of interviews with people in the U.S. and Italy to tell this story. She explains in her author’s note that there actually was a young girl who was the daughter of the innkeeper where some of the students were staying, and she used that knowledge to create the fictional frame for this story to make it more relatable for a child reader. The rest of the information contained in the story is factual.

Activities:

Pair this book with A Flood of Kindness by Ellen Leventhal.

Write a haiku poem using words from the scene with the students in the library’s basement.

Watch a PBS documentary, When the World Answered, that shows actual footage of some of the students— between minute 6:00 to 7:30—and the conditions in which they were working.

There’s also a 17-minute documentary about the Florida State University students who helped. It might not hold younger kids’ attention, but it made me cry.

Title: The Mud Angels: How Students Saved the City of Florence

Author: Karen Greenwald

Illustrator: Olga Lee

Publisher: Albert Whitman, 2024

Ages: Elementary school

Themes: community, cross-cultural cooperation

For more perfect picture book recommendations, please visit Susanna Hill’s website.