Author: Ezra Jack Keats
Illustrator: Ezra Jack Keats
Ages: 3+ years
Ezra Jack Keats is one of my favourite illustrators. I was reading about him last week and I learned that it was his birthday yesterday - March 11. This post is a day late, but a tribute to his wonderful contribution to children's literature.
Ezra was born just after World War I. He struggled his way out of a childhood in poverty, served in second World War and later went on to become one of the most beloved American authors with his beautiful books and illustrations.
The Snowy Day is a book with a special background and a testimony to Keats' compassion and spirit of humanity. It was the book that Ezra created to defy the colour barrier in children's publishing prevalent at that time. The book, in his own words had "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 My book would have him there simply because he should have been there all along", said Ezra in an unpublished autobiography. The character - Peter, was inspired by the clipping of a little boy from a newspaper that Ezra had preserved in his room for a long time. He won the Caldecott Medal in 1963 for the book's extraordinary illustrations accompanying a very simple, yet timeless storyline.
Today, you would barely notice the colour of the boy or ponder about it. In that way, he has certainly defied and thwarted not just the colour barrier, but also bridged generation gaps and created an ageless classic that appeals to children of this century as well, despite being created 52 years back!
The Snowy Day is about Peter's joy on experiencing snow for the first time, discovering the beauty of the flakes, awed by the canopy it creates and his urge to preserve a part of it for posterity ( in his coat pocket!). It reminds us of beauty of little children - their openness to nature and instant bonding to its wonders, their happiness in the most simplest things, their sense of exploring and discovering new things and most of all, their extraordinary ability to exist only in that moment and enjoy it to the fullest.
This book was also Ezra's first foray into illustrating with collages, home-made stamps and textured cloth and paper. The end result, as seen in the book, is so simple, which makes it even more stunning.
And the book reminded me of little M's first experience of snow - how he stood out looking at the flakes all day, asking me who threw them down, trying to catch them in his tongue and simply not getting enough of it even by the end of the day! And of course he wanted me to store bottles of snow in the freezer "for tomorrow"! :o)
Here is a Youtube reading of the book.
You can read more about Ezra and his books here.
Illustrator: Ezra Jack Keats
Ages: 3+ years
Ezra Jack Keats is one of my favourite illustrators. I was reading about him last week and I learned that it was his birthday yesterday - March 11. This post is a day late, but a tribute to his wonderful contribution to children's literature.
Ezra was born just after World War I. He struggled his way out of a childhood in poverty, served in second World War and later went on to become one of the most beloved American authors with his beautiful books and illustrations.
The Snowy Day is a book with a special background and a testimony to Keats' compassion and spirit of humanity. It was the book that Ezra created to defy the colour barrier in children's publishing prevalent at that time. The book, in his own words had "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", said Ezra in an unpublished autobiography. The character - Peter, was inspired by the clipping of a little boy from a newspaper that Ezra had preserved in his room for a long time. He won the Caldecott Medal in 1963 for the book's extraordinary illustrations accompanying a very simple, yet timeless storyline.
Today, you would barely notice the colour of the boy or ponder about it. In that way, he has certainly defied and thwarted not just the colour barrier, but also bridged generation gaps and created an ageless classic that appeals to children of this century as well, despite being created 52 years back!
The Snowy Day is about Peter's joy on experiencing snow for the first time, discovering the beauty of the flakes, awed by the canopy it creates and his urge to preserve a part of it for posterity ( in his coat pocket!). It reminds us of beauty of little children - their openness to nature and instant bonding to its wonders, their happiness in the most simplest things, their sense of exploring and discovering new things and most of all, their extraordinary ability to exist only in that moment and enjoy it to the fullest.
This book was also Ezra's first foray into illustrating with collages, home-made stamps and textured cloth and paper. The end result, as seen in the book, is so simple, which makes it even more stunning.
And the book reminded me of little M's first experience of snow - how he stood out looking at the flakes all day, asking me who threw them down, trying to catch them in his tongue and simply not getting enough of it even by the end of the day! And of course he wanted me to store bottles of snow in the freezer "for tomorrow"! :o)
Here is a Youtube reading of the book.
You can read more about Ezra and his books here.
