[1] It tells the story of a young African child, Baba, growing up in Guinea.

The novel won the Prix Charles Veillon writing prize.

It was translated into English by James Kirkup and Ernest Jones and published in the United States by Noonday Press in 1954 as The Dark Child and in the United Kingdom by Collins 1955.

This translation was later republished under the title The African Child in 1959.

[4] The scenes early in the novel, when the young narrator witnesses his father working with gold, have drawn considerable critical attention for their spiritual overtones,[5] but also because of the importance of the douga, the song and dance begun by the griot when the work is complete.