This book is the winner of numerous awards. It was recognised by the Parents' Choice Award. It was recognised in the Picture Book category by the North Carolina Children's Book Award. It also was recognised by the Monarch Award. It was recognised by the Texas Reading List.

This book has been graded for interest at 4-8 years.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2006 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr) .

Christine Davenier lives in Paris. She has also illustrated the Very Fairy Princess books by the actress Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton. Cari Best is the author of Three Cheers for Catherine the Great! She grew up in New York City and lives in Weston, Connecticut.