This book is the winner of numerous awards. It was recognised in the Picture Book category by the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. It was recognised in the Ages 8-10 Years category by the Christopher Award. It also was recognised by the Bluebonnet Award. It was recognised in the Picture Book category by the Black-Eyed Susan Award. Also it was recognised by the Rhode Island Book Awards. It was recognised in the Picture Book category by the Americas Award. It was recognised in the Illustrator category by the Pura Belpre Honor for Illustration.

This book has been graded for interest at 4-7 years.

There are 48 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 2003 by Houghton Mifflin .

Yuyi Morales is an artist, a Brazilian folk dancer, a puppet maker and the former host of a Spanish-language storytelling radio show for children. She grew up in Mexico and now lives with her husband, son and cat in Northern California. Kathleen Krull, the noted social historian, lives in San Diego, California. Boris Kulikov, the illustrator of the series, lives in New York City.