This book is the winner of numerous awards. It was recognised in the Special Subjects category by the Booksellers' Choice Award. It was recognised in the Nonfiction category by the Children's Books of Distinction Award. It also was recognised by the Caldecott Award. The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. It was recognised in the Horn Book Award - Special Citation category by the Boston Globe.

This book is part of a book series called Caldecott Honour Books .

There are 64 pages in this book. This book was published 1998 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc .

Peter Ss is an internationally acclaimed illustrator, author, and filmmaker. He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and attended the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and the Royal College of Art in London. Peter is a seven-time winner of The New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year, a two-time Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honoree, and has won the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal twice. Peter's books, Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei, Tibet through the Red Box, and The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain were all named Caldecott Honor books by the American Library Association. The Wall was also awarded the Robert F. Sibert Medal. In addition, Peter Ss is the first childrens book illustrator to win the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. He was chosen to deliver the 2012 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture for the Association for Library Service to Children. Peter won the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award. This award is considered the most prestigious in international children's literature, given biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People. Peter Ss lives in the New York City area with his wife and children.