Books Ezra Jack Keats

the snowy day, 1962

two years later, viking published snowy day, received caldecott medal distinguished picture book children in 1963. story follows young boy named peter spends day playing in snow. african-american, although race never mentioned. peter inspired life magazine clipping 1940. keats wrote, began experience turned life around — working on book black kid hero. none of manuscripts d been illustrating featured black kids — except token blacks in background. book have him there because should have been there along.

after years of illustrating books written others, keats found voice of own through peter. techniques give snowy day unique — collage cutouts of patterned paper fabric , oilcloth; handmade stamps; spatterings of india ink toothbrush — methods keats had never used before. child playing, wrote. in world no rules. snowy day 1 of 22 books written , illustrated keats, , more other, became classic of children s literature.

peter appears in total of 7 books, during grows , matures: whistle willie, peter s chair, letter amy, goggles!, hi, cat! , pet show!. keats skillfully weaves plots sense of dilemmas , dangers protagonists face. in snowy day peter, 4 years old, yearns join snowball fight learns small when stray snowball knocks him down. later, learns how assume role of older brother (peter s chair), stand friends when invites girl birthday party (a letter amy), , avoid violence of gang of older boys (goggles!).

one of keats signature story elements children in books consistently challenged real problems recognizable young readers; in solving them, characters learn , mature. in later series of 4 books beginning louie, keats introduces silent, lonely , brooding child responds puppet during puppet show joyous hello! louie lives largely in imagination, constructing diorama in shoebox , escaping in trip, , building spaceship out of detritus , traveling among planets in regards man in moon. resilient enough search candidate stepfather, , find one, in louie s search, , learn stand taunts other children. keats has said louie character related to, having felt invisible , unloved child , escaping through creative pursuits.

many of keats stories portray family life , simple pleasures in child s daily routine. jennie s hat illustrates excitement of child anticipating present. goggles! tells story of boys finding pair of goggles, , chase follows when gang of bullies wants them, too. keats drew on own experiences growing up, offering positive outcomes antidote unhappy childhood. yet particular events , environments in keats stories have emotional resonance children around world have responded to. intention. keats said, wanted snowy day chunk of life, sensory experience in word , picture of feels hear own body making sounds in snow. crunch...crunch...and joy of being alive.

after snowy day, keats blended collage gouache, opaque watercolor mixed gum produced oil-like glaze. marbled paper , worked acrylics , watercolor, pen , ink , photographs. simplicity , directness of snowy day gave way more complex , painterly compositions, such expressionistic illustrations in apt. 3.

in evolution fine artist children s book illustrator, ezra applied influences , techniques had inspired him painter, cubism abstraction, within cohesive, , highly dramatic, narrative structure. artwork demonstrates enormous emotional range, swinging exuberant whimsy deep desolation , again.