The People Could Fly is an African-American folktale anthology by Virginia Hamilton. It was published in 1985, with a special audio edition released later, in which the stories were read aloud by Hamilton and actor James Earl Jones. At the time of the anthology's publication, Hamilton was among the most prominent African-American writers of fiction for young people and the first black author to receive the Newbery Medal. (Though the stories in The People Could Fly were retold by Hamilton for the purposes of the collection, they are traditional folktales and not her original work.) The book was critically acclaimed and applauded for making its collected stories available to young readers, and was the recipient of numerous honors including the Coretta Scott King Award; it was also names the New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the year.