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Summary
Summary
A celebration of the extraordinary life of Ezra Jack Keats, creator of The Snowy Day .
The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago, when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats's obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra's dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one. But Ezra was determined. By high school he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics. But it was many years before Keats's greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book.
For more than two decades, Ezra had kept pinned to his wall a series of photographs of an adorable African American child. In Keats's hands, the boy morphed into Peter, a boy in a red snowsuit, out enjoying the pristine snow; the book became The Snowy Day , winner of the Caldecott Medal, the first mainstream book to feature an African American child. It was also the first of many books featuring Peter and the children of his -- and Keats's -- neighborhood.
Andrea Davis Pinkney's lyrical narrative tells the inspiring story of a boy who pursued a dream, and who, in turn, inspired generations of other dreamers.
Author Notes
Andrea Davis Pinkney says, "As an African American child growing up in the 1960s, at a time when I didn't see others like me in children's books, the expressiveness of Keats's illustrations had a profound effect."
Today, Ms. Pinkney is the distinguished and bestselling author of many books for children and young adults, including picture books, novels, and non-fiction. Her books have received multiple Coretta Scott King Book Awards, Jane Addams Honor citations, nominations for the NAACP Image Awards, the Boston Globe/Horn book Honor medal, and many other accolades. In recognition of her significant contributions to literature for young people through her body of work, she was selected to deliver the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture.
Andrea Davis Pinkney lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and frequent collaborator, Brian Pinkney, and their two children.
Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher have illustrated numerous books together. Among the most critically acclaimed are My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss; The Frog Prince, Continued by Jon Scieszka; and Silver Seeds by Paul Paolilli and Dan Brewer.
Steve and Lou live in Moraga, California.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This formidable biographical poem pays homage to Ezra Jack Keats while speaking to Peter, the fictional African-American hero of The Snowy Day, the story of a black boy playing in the snow, remarkable among 1960s children's stories in which "the delight/ was all white." Pinkney (Rhythm Ride) goes deeply into Keats's motivations, describing how "Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz," a child of struggling Polish immigrants, progressed from grocery store sign painter in Brooklyn to WPA muralist to comic book artist. After his service as a draftsman in the WWII Air Force, "Ezra did something many Jews did/ when the want ads said:/ 'No Jews Need Apply'" and changed his name to one that "had a nicer ring to it-for some." Pinkney emphasizes that "Discrimination had formed Ezra's/ understanding of what it meant to be/ different./ This also led to you, brown-sugar boy." The character of Peter, warmly addressed as a "cocoa sprite" who is "filled with brown-sugar whimsy," developed from a series of photos of a child that Keats clipped from a 1930s Life magazine. Pinkney describes the snow of Peter's day as "nature's we-all blanket," an inclusive force ("When Snow spreads her sheet, we all glisten"), while Fancher and Johnson (Shh! Bears Sleeping) mime Keats's collages, creating a gentle ambience for Pinkney's wordplay and confident voice. Though an established classic, The Snowy Day has received renewed attention from the We Need Diverse Books movement, and Pinkney's poem sheds fascinating light on Keats's long-lived achievement. Ages 7-10. Author's agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
In evocative verse, Pinkney presents a picture book biography of Ezra Jack Keats, creator of the children's classic The Snowy Day (rev. 2/63). It's also a love letter to Peter, Keats's Snowy Day protagonist: "Long before you arrived, / little brown-sugar child, he was born / You and he, / different, / but the same in so many ways." Keats, born Jacob Ezra Katz in 1916, was the son of Jewish immigrants who fled Poland and settled in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn. As a boy, Ezra had a job painting signs; he soon realized, with the help of his teachers and the library, that art was his calling. As a young man he painted murals for the WPA, worked as a comics artist, and created WWII posters before publishing his picture-book masterpiece. Pinkney highlights Keats's attunement to issues of discrimination, poverty, and social justice ("Even though the world was living / in an age of color judgment, / your color didn't matter to Ezra"), so when Peter does emerge--"Brown-sugar boy in a blanket of white"--the resonances are immediate and cathartic. Fancher and Johnson, who, like Keats, are known for their collage illustrations, thoughtfully incorporate Snowy Day motifs and other images from Peter's world along with photos and additional archival material; the color palette and textures, too, effectively pay homage to Keats's work. Useful back matter includes notes ("Ezra's Legacy," "Keats, the Collage Poet"), a booklist, and other sources. elissa gershowitz (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* This tribute poem to picture-book creator Ezra Jack Keats begins with The Snowy Day's Peter, Brown-sugar boy in a blanket of white. / Bright as the day you came onto the page. / From the hand of a man who saw you for you. Pinkney recounts Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz's early years in Brooklyn as the son of struggling Polish Jews; details how his parents, teachers, and librarians encouraged his talent; and explains how he honed his illustration skills working for the WPA and the air force when he could not afford art school. She emphasizes how Keats' personal experiences with discrimination (after the war, he modified his name to sound less Jewish in order to find work) helped him to identify with Peter, leading to a snowstorm of dreams. / A blizzard of imagination. / Flurries of fun! Fancher and Johnson's acrylic, collage, and pencil illustrations seamlessly integrate images from Keats' books into their own art, which employs a style complementary to the originals. Equally important, they skillfully represent Pinkney's lyrical text, which sometimes requires historical accuracy, magic realism, and nods to future possibilities, all within one spread. With rich back matter on Keats' legacy and his art, including a list of sources, this is an important book that belongs in any library where Peter is loved.--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2016 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-Pinkney dives into the life and work of Ezra Jack Keats, specifically focusing on The Snowy Day and his creation of the main character, Peter. Using poetry (what the author refers to as "collage verse"), mainly addressed to Peter, Pinkney pieces together Keats's biography, tracing spots where early versions or hints of Peter can be found, and reflects on what a monumental event the publication of the picture book was and still is. Students will learn about Keats's early life, his tireless dedication to provide for his immigrant family, his love and pursuit of art, and how he changed his name from Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz to Ezra Jack Keats to avoid anti-Semitism in the United States after World War II. Pinkney's verse seamlessly weaves together story and fact to craft an intimate conversation about the artist's history and impact. ("Brown-sugar child,/when you and your hue/burst onto the scene,/all of us came out to play.") Readers familiar with Keats will notice allusions to his other works throughout. The illustrations complement the text, and Keats's own style, by using mixed-media collages of prints, fabrics, photos, and paint, all of which capture the liveliness of the urban setting and historical points. This uplifting telling ends with a discussion of the cultural importance of Peter and how Keats's vision paved the way for authors and artists to look for and include children of color in their work. VERDICT This celebration of a visionary children's book author and illustrator is a lovely addition for most collections.-Briana Moore, Elmont Memorial Library, NY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A love letter to the man who gave readers the beautiful and enduring image of a black boy in a red hooded snowsuit.Pinkney, an African-American Brooklynite and a child of the 1960s, uses free verse to tell the story of the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland who settled in Brooklyn. Jacob Ezra Katz attended local schools, served in the Army during World War II, and loved to draw. He famously saw a series of photographs in Life magazine of a little black child and saved them for many years until the creation of A Snowy Day, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1963. Katz, who changed his name to Keats to avoid anti-Semitism, went on to feature Peter, that brown-sugar boy in a blanket of white, in several more ever popular stories. Fancher and Johnsons collage art is a homage to Keats, re-creating images from his books and fashioning scenes of Keats own Brooklyn neighborhood. Those who love Peter (and who does not?) will relish the illustrations, particularly that of Keats holding hands with Peter under a snow-dappled tree. More to the point, Pinkney lets readers know what Peter meant and still means as a milestone in inclusive childrens literature. He brought a world of white / suddenly alive with color. A loving and forceful reminder that Keats Peter is our Peteralways. (authors notes, Keats bibliography, resources, photographs) (Picture book/poetry/biography. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
