Ezra Jack Keats

Ezra Jack Keats
Keats, circa 1980
Keats, circa 1980
BornJacob Ezra Katz
(1916-03-11)March 11, 1916
East New York, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 6, 1983(1983-05-06) (aged 67)
OccupationIllustrator, writer
Period1960-1983
GenreChildren's picture books
Notable works
Notable awardsCaldecott Medal
1963

Ezra Jack Keats (né Jacob Ezra Katz; March 11, 1916 - May 6, 1983) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustrating The Snowy Day, which he also wrote. Keats wrote A Letter to Amy and Hi, Cat! but he was most famous for The Snowy Day.[1][2] It is considered one of the most important American books of the 20th century.[3][4]

Keats is best known for introducing multiculturalism into mainstream American children's literature. He was one of the first children's book authors to use an urban setting for his stories and he developed the use of collage as a medium for illustration.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference caldecottA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference caldecottB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Elizabeth Diefendorf, ed. (1996). The New York Public Library's Books of the Century. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-510897-2.
  4. ^ "Books that Shaped America". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2012-08-08.