This book is the winner of numerous awards. It was recognised in the Grades 4-6 category by the Black-Eyed Susan Award. It was recognised by the Iowa Children's Choice Award. It also was recognised in the Grades 4-6 category by the Volunteer State Book Award. It was recognised by the Sequoyah Book Award.

This book has been graded for interest at 9-12 years.

There are 144 pages in this book. This book was published 2003 by Albert Whitman & Company .

Dori Hillestad Butler began her published career writing for magazines, with stories in Highlights for Children, Children's Digest, and Child Life. She was also a ghostwriter for the popular Sweet Valley Twins Series and continues to ghostwrite for the Boxcar Children Series. She has written numerous children's and middle-school books since, and several of her books appear on the IRA's Children's Choice lists in ten different states. She resides in Coralville, Iowa. Joan C. Waites has illustrated over thirty-five books for the educational and trade marketplace, including two previous books for Pelican: Moon's Cloud Blanket and The Waving Girl. Waites lives and works in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband, Gerard, and their three children.