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Ezra Jack Keats (né Jacob Ezra Katz; March 11, 1916 - May 6, 1983) was an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
writer and illustrator of children's books. He is best known for '' The Snowy Day'', which won the 1963
Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...
and is considered one of the most important American books of the 20th century. He wrote 22 books and illustrated at least 70 more in his signature
collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...
art style. Keats is known for introducing
multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...
into mainstream American children's literature. Keats' works have been translated into some 20 languages, including Japanese, French, Danish, Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, German, Swedish, Thai, Chinese, and Korean.


Early life

Jack Keats was born Jacob Ezra Katz on March 11, 1916, to a poor family in
East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; ...
,
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, the third child of Polish-Jewish immigrants Benjamin Katz and Augusta Podgainy. Jack made pictures out of whatever scraps of wood, cloth and paper that he could collect. Benjamin Katz, who worked as a waiter, discouraged his son's artistic tendencies and insisted that artists lived terrible, impoverished lives. Nevertheless, Jack sometimes brought home tubes of paint, claiming, "A starving artist swapped this for a bowl of soup." Keats learned about art at the library and school. When he graduated from
Junior High School 149 Junior High School 149 Elijah D. Clark was a public junior high school in New York City, New York from 1906 to 2004. The school was at 360 East 145th Street in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx. It was named for its first principal, Elija ...
, he received a medal for drawing that he kept his entire life. Keats attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where he won a national contest run by Scholastic for an
oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...
depicting
hobo A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps, and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; a bum neither travels nor works. Et ...
s warming themselves around a fire. At his graduation, in January 1935, he was to receive the senior class medal for excellence in art. Two days before the ceremony, Benjamin Katz died in the street of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
. When Keats identified his father's body, he later wrote, "There in his wallet were worn and tattered newspaper clippings of the notices of the awards I had won. My silent admirer and supplier, he had been torn between his dread of my leading a life of hardship and his real pride in my work."


Art career

For the remainder of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, Keats took art classes and worked as a comic book illustrator and a
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
painter under the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
. At Fawcett Publications, he illustrated backgrounds for the Captain Marvel comic strip. He was drafted for military service in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and from 1943 to 1945 he designed camouflage patterns for the
US Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
. In 1947, he petitioned to legally change his name to Ezra Jack Keats, in reaction to the anti-Semitic prejudice of the time. Keats spent most of 1949 painting and studying in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. After returning to New York, he focused on earning a living as a commercial artist. His illustrations began to appear in ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
,
The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
,
Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
'' and ''
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'', and on the jackets of popular books. His work was displayed in
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...
store windows, and he had exhibitions at the Associated American Artists Gallery in 1950 and 1954.


Books

Keats was asked to create children's books by Elizabeth Riley of Crowell, which published his first children's title, ''Jubilant for Sure'', written by Elisabeth Hubbard Lansing, in 1954. To prepare for the assignment, Keats went to rural Kentucky, where the story takes place, to sketch. Many children's books followed, including the ''Danny Dunn'' adventure series, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, and an ethnographic series by Tillie S. Pine and Joseph Levine, beginning with ''The Indians Knew''. All told, Keats illustrated nearly 70 books written by other authors. '' My Dog Is Lost'' was Keats' first attempt at writing his own children's book, co-authored with Pat Cherr, in 1960. The main character, Juanito, is an eight-year-old Spanish speaker newly arrived in New York City from Puerto Rico who has lost his dog. Searching throughout the city, he is helped by children in Chinatown, Little Italy, Park Avenue and Harlem. In this early work, Keats incorporated Spanish words into the story and featured minority children as central characters. Two years later,
Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...
published '' The Snowy Day'', which received the
Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...
for the most distinguished picture book for children in 1963. Keats wrote, "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." After years of illustrating books written by others, Keats found a voice of his own through Peter. The techniques that give '' The Snowy Day'' its unique look - collage with cutouts of patterned paper fabric and oilcloth; handmade stamps; spatterings of India ink with a toothbrush - were methods Keats had never used before. "I was like a child playing," he wrote. "I was in a world with no rules.". '' The Snowy Day'' was one of 22 books written and illustrated by Keats, and more than any other, became a classic of children's literature. Peter appears in a total of seven books, during which he grows and matures: '' Whistle for Willie'', '' Peter's Chair'', '' A Letter to Amy'', '' Goggles!'', ''Hi, Cat!'' and '' Pet Show!.'' Keats skillfully weaves into his plots a sense of the dilemmas and even dangers his protagonists face. In '' The Snowy Day'' Peter, about four years old, yearns to join a snowball fight but learns he is too small when a stray snowball knocks him down. Later, he learns how to assume the role of older brother ('' Peter's Chair''), to stand up to his friends when he invites a girl to his birthday party (''A Letter to Amy''), and to avoid the violence of a gang of older boys (''Goggles!''). One of Keats' signature story elements is that the children in his books are consistently challenged with real problems that are recognizable to young readers; in solving them, the characters learn and mature. In a later series of four books beginning with ''Louie'', Keats introduces a silent, lonely and brooding child who responds to a puppet during a puppet show with a joyous ''Hello!'' Louie lives largely in his imagination, constructing a diorama in a shoebox and escaping into it in '' The Trip'', and building a spaceship out of detritus and traveling among the planets in '' Regards to the Man in the Moon.'' But he is resilient enough to search for a candidate for a stepfather, and find one, in '' Louie's Search'', and to learn to stand up to taunts from other children. Keats has said that Louie is the character he most related to, having felt invisible and unloved as a child and escaping through his creative pursuits. Many of Keats' stories portray family life and the simple pleasures in a child's daily routine. '' Jennie's Hat'' illustrates the excitement of a child anticipating a present. '' Goggles!'' tells the story of boys finding a pair of goggles, and the chase that follows when a gang of bullies wants them, too. Keats drew on his own experiences growing up, often offering positive outcomes as an antidote to his unhappy childhood. Yet the particular events and environments in Keats' stories have an emotional resonance that children around the world have responded to. This was certainly his intention. Keats said, "I wanted The Snowy Day to be a chunk of life, the sensory experience in word and picture of what it feels like to hear your own body making sounds in the snow. Crunch...crunch...And the joy of being alive." After '' The Snowy Day'', Keats blended collage with
gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouach ...
, an opaque watercolor mixed with a gum that produced an oil-like glaze. He marbled paper and worked with acrylics and watercolor, pen and ink and even photographs. The simplicity and directness of '' The Snowy Day'' gave way to more complex and painterly compositions, such as the expressionistic illustrations in '' Apt. 3''. In his evolution from fine artist to children's book illustrator, Ezra applied influences and techniques that had inspired him as a painter, from
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
to
abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...
, within a cohesive, and often highly dramatic, narrative structure. His artwork also demonstrates an enormous emotional range, swinging from exuberant whimsy to deep desolation and back again. His last projects included designing the sets for a musical version of his book '' The Trip'' (which would later become the stage production '' Captain Louie''), designing a poster for The New Theater of Brooklyn, and writing and illustrating a retelling of the folktale "The Giant Turnip." After his death, the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, which he had established in 1964, became active. Under the administration of his close friends Martin and Lillie Pope, the foundation was dedicated to preserving the quality of Keats' books and artworks, promoting children's literacy and creativity, and maintaining quality and diversity in children's literature. One of the Foundation's program is the
Ezra Jack Keats Book Award The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award is an annual U.S. literary award. At the Ezra Jack Keats Book Awards Ceremony every April, the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation presents the New Writer Award (since 1985) and New Illustrator Award (since 2001) to an aut ...
. The Keats Archive, which includes original artwork and correspondence, is housed at the
University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...
as part of the
de Grummond Children's Literature Collection The McCain Library and Archives is the chief reserve library for The University of Southern Mississippi. It houses the items in Southern Mississippi's possession that are not available for checkout. Besides being the archives, the building also ...
.


Honors and memorials

Among the many honors Keats received for his 20-year contribution to children's literature are: * '' The Snowy Day'' was awarded the
Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...
and named one of the 150 most influential books of the 20th century by the
New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...
. * Keats was the first artist invited to design greeting cards for
UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
. * A skating rink in Kiyose, Japan, was named after him, in honor of his book '' Skates!''. * Keats was a member of the White House Forum on Child Development and the Mass Media and appeared on the celebrated PBS show
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001. It was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Its original incarnation, the se ...
several times;
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
featured his book '' Peter's Chair'', read aloud by First Lady
Barbara Bush Barbara Bush (; June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of the 41st president of the United States, George H. W. Bush. She was previously second lady of the United States fr ...
. * He was awarded The
University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...
Silver Medallion in 1980 during the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival as outstanding children's book author-illustrator. * The city of
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, honored him with a parade, as did his readers in
Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
. * The Imagination Playground was set up by the
Prospect Park Prospect Park may refer to: Businesses * Prospect Park (production company), entertainment production company *Prospect Park Productions NZ, theatre company based in Dunedin, New Zealand Places New Zealand * Prospect Park, New Zealand, a portion ...
Alliance in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
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, based on the characters from Keats' books. The centerpiece is a much visited bronze statue of Peter with his dog Willie, where a story hour takes place weekly in the summer. * P.S. 253 in Brooklyn was renamed the Ezra Jack Keats Pre-K Center. *In 2014, the
Skirball Cultural Center The Skirball Cultural Center, founded in 1996, is a Jewish educational institution in Los Angeles, California. The center, named after philanthropist couple Jack H. Skirball and Audrey Skirball-Kenis, has a museum with regularly changing exhi ...
in
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created a major retrospective of Keats' life and career. Outlets such as '' The Daily News'', ''
L.A. Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
'', and '' Time Out'' covered the exhibit.
The National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
also covered the exhibit on their Art Works blog. *In 2017, the
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
created Forever stamps in honor of Keats's ''Snowy Day''. Outlets such as the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
,'' ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', and ''
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'' covered the stamps' release.


Personal life

In 1983, Keats died at the age of 67 following a heart attack. He never married and often said that his characters were his children.


Bibliography


Books written and illustrated

* '' My Dog Is Lost'' (1960) * '' The Snowy Day'' (1962) -
Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...
winner * '' Whistle for Willie'' (1964) * '' John Henry, An American Legend'' (1965) * '' Jennie's Hat'' (1966) * '' Peter's Chair'' (1967) * '' A Letter to Amy'' (1968) * '' Goggles!'' (1969) - a Caldecott runner-up * ''Hi, Cat!'' (1970) * '' Apt. 3'' (1971) * '' Pet Show!'' (1972) * '' Skates!'' (1973) * '' Pssst! Doggie-'' (1973) * ''Dreams'' (1974) * '' Kitten for a Day'' (1974) * ''Louie'' (1975) * '' The Trip '' (1978) * '' Maggie and the Pirate'' (1979) * ''Louie's Search'' (1980) * '' Regards to the Man in the Moon'' (1981) * '' Clementina's Cactus'' (1982) * '' One Red Sun, A Counting Book'' (1998)


Books adapted or compiled

* ''In a Spring Garden'' (edited by Richard Lewis, 1965) * ''The Naughty Boy: A Poem'' (by John Keats, 1965) * ''God is in the Mountain'' (1966) * ''
The Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Austrian Trapp Family, the song was further popularized ...
'' (by Katherine Davis, Henry Ohorati and Harry Simeone, 1968) * ''Night'' (compiled by Ezra Jack Keats, photographs by Beverly Hall, 1969) * '' Over in the Meadow'' (by Olive A. Wadsworth, 1971)


Books illustrated

* More than 85 books were illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats, not including the titles which he helped to write and/or edit. Most of these illustrated works were completed before his debut as an author/illustrator.


See also


References


External links


Ezra Jack Keats Foundation

"The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats"
Claudia J. Nahson, Jewish Museum/Yale University Press, 2011. Exhibition catalogue with essays and a timeline

University of Southern Mississippi. A virtual exhibit of the Keats Archive and other useful links
Ezra Jack Keats, A Bibliography of His Work
University of Southern Mississippi. The Ezra Jack Keats Collection. {{DEFAULTSORT:Keats, Ezra Jack American children's writers American children's book illustrators Jewish American artists Jewish American children's writers Artists from Brooklyn Writers from Brooklyn Writers who illustrated their own writing Caldecott Medal winners Multiculturalism in the United States 1916 births 1983 deaths Place of death missing Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn) alumni 20th-century American Jews