This delightful tale of a lucky boy is an introduction to the time and place that gave rist to modern science: the 16th-c city-states of Italy. The hero Tibaldo was born into a large and happy family in Bologna on October 10, 1570. Tibaldo was going on 12 when the hole appeared in the calendar. Pope Gregory had grasped a few years earlier that the old Julian calendar of Rome adopted by the Church in the 4th c was badly in error. The correction takes in Tibaldo's birthday.

Interesting historical fiction about the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Pope Gregory has officially declared that 10 days must be dropped from the year 1582 in order to accommodate the new calendar. This concerns Tibaldo, a poor Italian boy, who, with the financial support of his father’s boss, Professor Turisamus, attends the prestigious St. Joseph-in-the-Corner School in Bologna. If the 10 days are dropped, Tibaldo’s birthday will be lost. He is so concerned that he actually wangles an audience with the Pope to discuss it. The avuncular tone of the narrative makes the book a very readable account of the thoughts and beliefs in the Middle Ages regarding astronomy, astrology, and medicine. Italy. “Calendars are only human instruments for keeping track of days.”