Antonio Hernández Madrigal grew up in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, where he often listened to traditional stories told by his great-grandmother, a healer and storyteller of the Tarascau tribe. He moved to the United States in 1976, and worked as a harvester in the fields of southern California and Arizona while learning English; then he began to pursue his love of writing. "Legend of the Feathered Serpent" is from Hernández Madrigal's first book, The Eagle and the Rainbow, a collection of Mexican legends illustrated by Tomie dePaola. His second book is Erandi's Braids, also illustrated by Tomie dePaola.