It’s September, time for the annual grape harvest, one of the happiest times in Tuscany.

On the first day of the harvest, Claudia’s aunts, uncles, and cousins have come to her home to gather the grapes from the vineyard. Harvesting grapes is hard work, but Claudia knows it can be fun, too. At the end of the day, her family will celebrate with pizzas filled with ricotta cheese and sausages and olives.

But the most fun of all will be what Claudia has been dreaming about all year: crushing the grapes. Now she is old enough to join her cousins and stomp the grapes in the big tub. But the tub is on top of the cantina, and Claudia is afraid of heights. Will she muster the courage to climb the ladder to the top? Or will she wait until next year to join in the fun?

• ISBN: 9781590788332
• Author: Buonanno, Graziella Pacini
• Illustrator: Capaldi, Gina
• Published: 2011 , Boyds Mills Press
• Themes: celebrations, Courage, Dreams, Family, happy, harvest
• Descriptors: Europe, Italy, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction
• No. of pages: 40