Ezra Jack Keats
Encyclopedia
Ezra Jack Keats (born Jacob Ezra Katz), Caldecott-winning author of The Snowy Day
, was one of the most important children's literature
authors and illustrators of the 20th Century.
Keats is best known for introducing multiculturalism
into mainstream American children's literature. He was one of the first children’s book authors to use an urban
setting for his stories and he developed the use of collage
as a medium for illustration.
to Benjamin Katz and Augusta Podgainy, Polish immigrants
of Jewish descent.
Ezra attended Thomas Jefferson High School
, where he won a national contest run by the Scholastic Publishing Company for an oil painting depicting unemployed men warming themselves around a fire. Upon graduation from high school, Ezra was awarded the senior class’s medal for excellence in art. Benjamin Katz died in the street of a heart attack in January 1935, on the day before Ezra was to receive this award. Ezra was called upon to identify the body, and it was then that he discovered in his father’s wallet the carefully preserved newspaper clippings that reported on the notable artistic achievements of his son.
Ezra worked under the Works Progress Administration (WPA)
as a mural painter, after which, he began illustrating comic books and worked for the Captain Marvel
comic strip. In 1943, Keats entered the service of the United States Army, where he designed camouflage patterns. After returning home, Ezra illustrated for The Reader’s Digest, The New York Times Book Review
, Colliers
and Playboy
, among others. Two years after the war, in reaction to the anti-Semitic prejudices of the time, Ezra legally changed his name to Ezra Jack Keats.
adventure series.
My Dog is Lost was Keats’ first attempt at writing his own children’s book. The main character is a boy, newly arrived in New York City from Puerto Rico, named Juanito. Juanito speaks only Spanish, and has lost his dog. In searching the city, Juanito meets children from different sections of New York, such as Chinatown
and Little Italy
. Even in this very early book Keats was innovative in his use of minority children as central characters.
In the two years that followed, Keats worked on a book featuring a little boy named Peter. An article Keats had clipped from Life magazine in 1940 inspired Peter. “Then began an experience that turned my life around — working on a book with a black kid as hero. None of the manuscripts I’d been illustrating featured any black kids — except for token blacks in the background. My book would have him there simply because he should have been there all along. Years before I had cut from a magazine a strip of photos of a little black boy. I often put them on my studio walls before I’d begun to illustrate children’s books. I just loved looking at him. This was the child who would be the hero of my book.”
The book featuring Peter, The Snowy Day
, received the prestigious Caldecott Award
for the most distinguished picture book for children in 1963. Peter appears in six more books growing from a small boy in The Snowy Day
to adolescence in Pet Show.
Mr. Keats illustrated 33 books and also wrote 22 of the books. In 1983, Keats died at the age of 67 following a heart attack
. His last projects included designing the sets for a musical version of his book The Trip (which would later become the musical Captain Louie), designing a poster for the New Theater of Brooklyn, and writing and illustrating The Giant Turnip, a beloved folktale. He never married.
The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award was established in 1985 to recognize and encourage authors and illustrators new to the field of children's books. The Ezra Jack Keats New Writer and New Illustrator Awards are given annually to an outstanding new writer and an outstanding new illustrator of picture books for children (age 9 and younger) and are presented jointly by the New York Public Library
and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.
Over his career, Keats illustrated over 85 books for children, also writing the stories for 24 of them. The Ezra Jack Keats Archive is housed at The University of Southern Mississippi
as part of the deGrummond Children's Literature Collection.
The book featuring Peter, The Snowy Day
, received the prestigious Caldecott Medal
for the most distinguished picture book for children in 1963. Peter appears in six more books, growing from a small boy in The Snowy Day
to pre-adolescence in Letter to Amy. Following a child's growth was novel. The Snowy Day
became a classic in children's literature
, along with the books that follow it.
In the books that Keats wrote and illustrated, he used a number of innovative techniques to portray his subjects in a unique manner. One of these was his blending of gouache
with collage
, as well as other multimedia
art formats. Another was the problem-solving aspect of his books—each main character solves a problem that faces children of that age. A feature of his characters is that they evolve in dealing with the changing problems that confront children as they grow up. For instance, in The Snowy Day, little Peter, about four years old, realizes that he should not try to join in some of the activities of the bigger children when he is knocked down by a stray snowball. As Peter grows, he learns how to react to the problems of becoming an older brother (Peter’s Chair), to stand up to the ridicule of his peers when he decides to invite a girl, his friend Amy, to his birthday party (A Letter to Amy
), and to avoid the violence of a gang of older boys (Goggles!).
Many of Keats' stories illustrate family life and the simple pleasures that a child has in his daily routine. Jennie's Hat illustrates the excitement of a child waiting for a present, and the anticipation of what the present would look like. In Louie, a special child learns about a simple act of unselfish kindness through a puppet show. Goggles tells the story of finding a pair of goggles, and the chase that follows the boys through the streets of a neighborhood, when the big bullies want to snatch the goggles from them. Keats drew upon his experiences, but these are also the experiences of children growing up in neighborhoods and communities in many parts of the world.
The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day is a 1962 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book...
, was one of the most important children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
authors and illustrators of the 20th Century.
Keats is best known for introducing multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
into mainstream American children's literature. He was one of the first children’s book authors to use an urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
setting for his stories and he developed the use of collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
as a medium for illustration.
Biography
Ezra Jack Keats was born Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz on March 11, 1916 in East New York, BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
to Benjamin Katz and Augusta Podgainy, Polish immigrants
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
of Jewish descent.
Early life
From a very young age, Ezra found great joy in making pictures. Ezra couldn't afford art supplies, so he created pictures from scraps of wood, cloth and any paper that he could collect. Benjamin Katz didn't approve of his son's affection for making art and insisted that an artist lives a terrible, hungry life. Perhaps to prove this point, Mr. Katz would bring home paint and brushes home from the restaurant saying "If you don’t think artists starve, well, let me tell you. One man came in the other day and swapped me a tube of paint for a bowl of soup.”Ezra attended Thomas Jefferson High School
Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn, New York)
Thomas Jefferson High School is a former high school in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York. The New York City Department of Education closed the school and broke it into several different schools in 2007, owing to low graduation rates....
, where he won a national contest run by the Scholastic Publishing Company for an oil painting depicting unemployed men warming themselves around a fire. Upon graduation from high school, Ezra was awarded the senior class’s medal for excellence in art. Benjamin Katz died in the street of a heart attack in January 1935, on the day before Ezra was to receive this award. Ezra was called upon to identify the body, and it was then that he discovered in his father’s wallet the carefully preserved newspaper clippings that reported on the notable artistic achievements of his son.
Ezra worked under the Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
as a mural painter, after which, he began illustrating comic books and worked for the Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
comic strip. In 1943, Keats entered the service of the United States Army, where he designed camouflage patterns. After returning home, Ezra illustrated for The Reader’s Digest, The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
, Colliers
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
and Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, among others. Two years after the war, in reaction to the anti-Semitic prejudices of the time, Ezra legally changed his name to Ezra Jack Keats.
Career in Publishing
In 1954, Keats illustrated Jubilant for Sure by Elisabeth Hubbard Lansing was published. Keats, in an unpublished autobiography, stated: “I didn’t even ask to get into children’s books.” In the years that followed, Keats was hired to illustrate many children’s books written by other authors, among them being the Danny DunnDanny Dunn
Danny Dunn is the name of a fictional character and protagonist of a series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams, in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s...
adventure series.
My Dog is Lost was Keats’ first attempt at writing his own children’s book. The main character is a boy, newly arrived in New York City from Puerto Rico, named Juanito. Juanito speaks only Spanish, and has lost his dog. In searching the city, Juanito meets children from different sections of New York, such as Chinatown
Chinatown, Manhattan
Manhattan's Chinatown , home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere, is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
and Little Italy
Little Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...
. Even in this very early book Keats was innovative in his use of minority children as central characters.
In the two years that followed, Keats worked on a book featuring a little boy named Peter. An article Keats had clipped from Life magazine in 1940 inspired Peter. “Then began an experience that turned my life around — working on a book with a black kid as hero. None of the manuscripts I’d been illustrating featured any black kids — except for token blacks in the background. My book would have him there simply because he should have been there all along. Years before I had cut from a magazine a strip of photos of a little black boy. I often put them on my studio walls before I’d begun to illustrate children’s books. I just loved looking at him. This was the child who would be the hero of my book.”
The book featuring Peter, The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day is a 1962 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book...
, received the prestigious Caldecott Award
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
for the most distinguished picture book for children in 1963. Peter appears in six more books growing from a small boy in The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day is a 1962 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book...
to adolescence in Pet Show.
Mr. Keats illustrated 33 books and also wrote 22 of the books. In 1983, Keats died at the age of 67 following a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. His last projects included designing the sets for a musical version of his book The Trip (which would later become the musical Captain Louie), designing a poster for the New Theater of Brooklyn, and writing and illustrating The Giant Turnip, a beloved folktale. He never married.
The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award was established in 1985 to recognize and encourage authors and illustrators new to the field of children's books. The Ezra Jack Keats New Writer and New Illustrator Awards are given annually to an outstanding new writer and an outstanding new illustrator of picture books for children (age 9 and younger) and are presented jointly by the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.
Over his career, Keats illustrated over 85 books for children, also writing the stories for 24 of them. The Ezra Jack Keats Archive is housed at The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi, informally known as Southern Miss, is a large public research university located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. It is situated north of Gulfport, Mississippi and northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana...
as part of the deGrummond Children's Literature Collection.
Books
The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day is a 1962 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book...
, received the prestigious Caldecott Medal
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
for the most distinguished picture book for children in 1963. Peter appears in six more books, growing from a small boy in The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day is a 1962 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book...
to pre-adolescence in Letter to Amy. Following a child's growth was novel. The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day is a 1962 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book...
became a classic in children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
, along with the books that follow it.
In the books that Keats wrote and illustrated, he used a number of innovative techniques to portray his subjects in a unique manner. One of these was his blending of gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
with collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
, as well as other multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
art formats. Another was the problem-solving aspect of his books—each main character solves a problem that faces children of that age. A feature of his characters is that they evolve in dealing with the changing problems that confront children as they grow up. For instance, in The Snowy Day, little Peter, about four years old, realizes that he should not try to join in some of the activities of the bigger children when he is knocked down by a stray snowball. As Peter grows, he learns how to react to the problems of becoming an older brother (Peter’s Chair), to stand up to the ridicule of his peers when he decides to invite a girl, his friend Amy, to his birthday party (A Letter to Amy
A Letter to Amy
A Letter to Amy is a 1968 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats."Peter, from Keats' The Snowy Day, is having a birthday party, and he's asked all of his friends to come. But Amy is a special friend because she is a girl--so Peter decides to write her a special...
), and to avoid the violence of a gang of older boys (Goggles!).
Many of Keats' stories illustrate family life and the simple pleasures that a child has in his daily routine. Jennie's Hat illustrates the excitement of a child waiting for a present, and the anticipation of what the present would look like. In Louie, a special child learns about a simple act of unselfish kindness through a puppet show. Goggles tells the story of finding a pair of goggles, and the chase that follows the boys through the streets of a neighborhood, when the big bullies want to snatch the goggles from them. Keats drew upon his experiences, but these are also the experiences of children growing up in neighborhoods and communities in many parts of the world.
Honors, monuments, memorials
- His work traveled around the world as part of a United States State Department Exhibit.
- Keats was the first designer (by invitation) of greeting cards for UNICEF.
- A retrospective of Keats’s art was featured at the New York Public LibraryNew York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
and at the Children’s Library of Manhattan. - The Imagination Playground was set up by the Prospect ParkProspect Park (Brooklyn)Prospect Park is a 585-acre public park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn located between Park Slope, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Flatbush Avenue, Grand Army Plaza and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden...
Alliance in BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, based on the characters from Keats’s books. The centerpiece is a much visited bronze statue of Peter, reading The Snowy DayThe Snowy DayThe Snowy Day is a 1962 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book...
while sitting on a rock, with one hand on his pet dog Willie, and his little chair (from Peter’s Chair) nearby. - Keats is commemorated with a flagstone in the Celebrity Walk in the Brooklyn Botanic GardenBrooklyn Botanic GardenBrooklyn Botanic Garden is a botanical garden in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and Park Slope neighborhoods, the garden includes a number of specialty "gardens within the Garden," plant collections, and the Steinhardt Conservatory,...
. - He was an invited speaker at the Iran International Book Festival.
- Japan named an ice-skating rink after him, commemorating the book Skates.
- Keats appeared on television with Fred Rogers several times.
- He was awarded The University of Southern MississippiThe University of Southern MississippiThe University of Southern Mississippi, informally known as Southern Miss, is a large public research university located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. It is situated north of Gulfport, Mississippi and northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana...
Silver Medallion in 1980 during the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book FestivalFay B. Kaigler Children's Book FestivalThe Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival is an annual book festival that was founded in 1968 and is sponsored by The University of Southern Mississippi.-Early years:...
as outstanding children’s book author-illustrator. - Portland, OregonPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, honored his work with a city-wide parade, as did his readers in Tokyo, Japan. - Keats' works have been translated into 19 languages, including Japanese, French, Danish, Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, German, Swedish, Thai, Chinese, and Korean.
- The Ezra Jack Keats International School in Brooklyn was named for him (PS 253)
Books written and illustrated
- A Letter to AmyA Letter to AmyA Letter to Amy is a 1968 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats."Peter, from Keats' The Snowy Day, is having a birthday party, and he's asked all of his friends to come. But Amy is a special friend because she is a girl--so Peter decides to write her a special...
- Apt. 3Apt. 3Apt. 3 is a 1971 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats.Two brothers, Sam and Ben, follow the sound of a harmonica through a New York City tenement building....
- Clementina's CactusClementina's CactusClementina's Cactus is a 1982 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats.In Clementina's Cactus, Keats conveys a story without words. Clementina and her father encounter a single cactus while walking through the desert. Clementina investigates the dried, stumpy...
- My Dog is Lost!
- The Snowy DayThe Snowy DayThe Snowy Day is a 1962 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book...
(winner, Caldecott MedalCaldecott MedalThe Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
, 1963) - Whistle for Willie (honor book, Caldecott MedalCaldecott MedalThe Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
) - John Henry, An American Legend
- Jennie's Hat
- God is in the Mountain
- Peter's Chair
- Goggles! (winner, Boston Globe-Horn Book AwardBoston Globe-Horn Book AwardThe Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards were first presented by The Boston Globe and Horn Book Magazine in 1967. They are among the most prestigious honors in the United States in the field of children’s and young adult literature...
; Hon. Mention, Caldecott MedalCaldecott MedalThe Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
) - Hi, Cat!
- Pet Show!
- Skates!
- Pssst! Doggie-
- Dreams
- Kitten for a Day
- Louie
- The Trip
- Maggie and the Pirate
- Louie's Search
- Regards to the Man in the Moon
- One Red Sun
Books illustrated
- Three Young Kings (by George Sumner Albee)
- Jubilant for Sure (by Elisabeth Hubbard Lansing)
- Indian Two Feet and His Horse (by Margaret Friskey)
- In a Spring Garden (Richard Lewis, editor)
- The Little Drummer Boy (by Katherine Davis, Henry Ohorati and Harry Simeone) ISBN 0-14-056743-7
- Over in the Meadow (by Olive A. WadsworthOver In The MeadowOver In The Meadow is a popular counting rhyme of currently unknown and disputed origin. It is likely that the rhyme originated in the United Kingdom in the 16th century. It may instead have been written by Olive A. Wadsworth in 1870....
) ISBN 0-14-056508-6 - The King's Fountain (by Lloyd Alexander) ISBN 0-52-533240-5
- The Naughty Boy: A Poem (by John Keats)
- Tia Maria's Garden (by Ann Nolan Clark)
- The Chinese Knew (by T.S. Pine and J. Levine)
- The Eskimos Knew (by T. S. Pine and J. Levine)
- The Egyptians Knew (by T.S. Pine and J. Levine)
- The Flying Cow (by Ruth P. Collins)
- Our Rice Village in Cambodia (by R. Tooze)
- Jim Can Swim (by Helen D. Olds)
- Speedy Digs Downside Up (by Maxine W. Kumin)
- Zoo, Where Are You? (by Ann McGovern)
- How to be a Nature Detective (by Millicent E. Selsam)
- In the Park: An Excursion in Four Languages (by Esther R. Hautzig)
- Two Tickets to Freedom: The True Story of Ellen and Willian Craft, Fugitive Slaves (by Florence B. Freedman) ISBN 0-671-65169-2
- Penny Tunes and Princesses (by Myron Levoy)
- The Indians Knew (by T.S.Pine and J. Levine)
- The Peterkin Papers (by Lucretia P. Hale)
- Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint (by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin)
- Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine (by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin) ISBN 0-07-070520-8
- Danny Dunn and the Weather Machine (by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin) ISBN 0-67-129966-2