This document provides biographical information about Ezra Jack Keats, a children's book author and illustrator known for promoting diversity. It notes that Keats was born in 1916 to Polish Jewish immigrants and changed his name to avoid anti-Semitism. His book The Snowy Day, published in 1962, featured one of the first Black protagonists in children's literature. The document discusses Keats' life and work, the continuing lack of diversity in children's books, and the importance of critical literacy in exploring issues of representation.

1. Alex Hodges, @alexlibrarian
American University Library
AU School of Education

2. Ezra Jack Keats
 Children’s author
 Illustrator
 Artist
 Humanitarian
Circa 1980, with cat, Samantha
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/march-11th-
marks-the-100th-birthday-of-ezra-jack-keats-grandfather-of-
diversity-in-childrens-illustrated-literature-300233165.html

3.  Born 1916, Brooklyn
 Parents were Polish Jews
 Birth name is Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz; changed name in 1947
to shield against anti-Semitism
 Studied at Art Students League of New York
 Mural painter for New Deal Works Progress Administration
 WWII designed camouflage patterns for US Air Force
 Commerical artist: Published in Reader’s Digest, The New
York Times Book Review, Collier’s, Playboy
 1950, 1954 exhibitions at Associated American Artists
Gallery
http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/ezras-life/
About Ezra Jack Keats

4. Keats/The Snowy Day Timeline
 1962: Viking publishes The
Snowy Day
 1963: Keats wins Caldecott
Award
 1983: Keats dies at 67
 1986: Keats archive
established
 2012: 50th anniversary of The
Snowy Day
 2016: 10oth birthday year
http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/section/celebrating-the-snowy-day/

5. Keats and Peter
“Then began an experience that turned my life around,” he
wrote, “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.” – Ezra Jack Keats
http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/ezras-life/
Life Magazine, 1940

6. Peter’s Appearances
http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/ezras-characters/peter/

7. Art & Illustration Techniques
 Gouache
 Watercolor
 Collage

8.  Overview of Keats’ work
http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/a-movie/
 The Jewish Museum, 2011 exhibition video
https://youtu.be/gdg0bsYn1f0
Visual Media: Stories about Keats

9. Unequal Representation
https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp

10. Children’s Books By and About
People of Color
http://www.slj.com/2015/02/diversity/kid-lit-still-mostly-white-but-diversity-gaining-ground/#_

11. AU Curriculum: Critical Literacy
http://www.american.edu/cas/news/vivian-vasquez-critical-literacy.cfm
https://www.pinterest.com/PlaytheDay/critical-literacy/

12. #1000blackgirlbooks
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/02/26/467969663/wheres-the-color-in-kids-lit-ask-the-girl-with-1-000-books-and-counting

13. Larissa Gerstel
Critical Literacy Collection
http://www.american.edu/giving/success/larissa-gerstel-critical-
literacy-endowment.cfm
http://www.american.edu/cas/news/seth-gerstel-100401.cfm

14. “If we all could really see (‘see’ as
perceive, understand, discover)
each other exactly as the other is,
this would be a different world.”
-Ezra Jack Keats
The Jewish Museum, exhibition, 2011
Parting Words

15. Selected References
Brooks, W., & McNair, J. C. (2009). "But This Story of Mine Is Not Unique": A Review of Research on African
American Children's Literature. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 125–162. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40071163
Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/
Cooperative Children’s Book Center. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/default.asp
http://daily.jstor.org/1000blackgirlsbooks-and-the-importance-of-diversity-in-childrens-literature/
http://grassrootscommunityfoundation.org/1000-black-girl-books-resource-guide/
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/28/145052896/the-snowy-day-breaking-color-barriers-quietly
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/02/26/467969663/wheres-the-color-in-kids-lit-ask-the-girl-with-1-000-
books-and-counting
Vasquez, V. M. (2010). Getting beyond "I like the book": Creating space for critical literacy in K-6
classrooms (2nd ed.). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.