This book was recognised in the Illustrator category by the Coretta Scott King Award. Presented annually since 1970 by the American Library Association to books by African-America authors and illustrators, this award recognizes excellence in promoting a deeper understanding of the African-American Experience. It was recognised in the Author category by the Coretta Scott King Award. Presented annually since 1970 by the American Library Association to books by African-America authors and illustrators, this award recognizes excellence in promoting a deeper understanding of the African-American Experience.

This book was published 1995 by HarperCollins Publishers Inc .

Joyce Carol Thomas is an internationally renowned author who received the National Book Award for her first novel, Marked By Fire, and a Coretta Scott King Honor for The Blacker the Berry and for her first picture book, Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea. Her picture book I Have Heard of a Land received a Coretta Scott King Honor and an IRA/CBC Teachers' Choice Award and was an ALA Notable Book. Her other titles include The Gospel Cinderella, Crowning Glory, Gingerbread Days, and A Gathering of Flowers. Ms. Thomas lives in Berkeley, California. David Diaz has illustrated numerous award-winning books for children, including smoky night by Eve Bunting, for which he was awarded the Caldecott Medal; The Wanderer by Sharon Creech, which received a Newbery Honor; and Me, Frida by Amy Novesky, a Pura Belpre Honor Award winner. Mr. Diaz lives in Southern California.