ezra jack keats

i've been on an ezra jack keats kick lately, and am totally enamored with his children's books. the classics like "the snowy day" and "peter's chair" are simple, beautifully illustrated stories about a little black boy named peter, growing up in new york city. but many of keats' other stories are more complicated tales of the lives of children dealing with fear, prejudice, loving, growing up...and most of his characters are non-whites, which was really remarkable at the time he was writing.

my favorites are the books about louie, a shy boy living in the neighborhood with peter and his friends. in "louie," susie and roberto put on a puppet show for the neighborhood, and louie falls in love with one of the puppets, gussie. he yells to gussie, making a scene and disturbing the show, but susie and roberto handle the situation with grace, having the puppet ask louie to sit down for now so everyone can enjoy the show. and the book ends with susie and roberto leaving a secret note for louie, leading him to his present, the puppet gussie. this book is so beautiful! it is so heartening to see children be wise and kind and graceful to one another.



the other books about louie are equally moving. i especially appreciate keats' dreamlike illustrations, and his emphasis on dream sequences in the children's lives. it seems really apt that dreams and reality are mixed in books for children.

and keats' art is amazing. his website says he was unique in his blending of gouache with collage. i love the little collage bits of newspapers or signs you find around the children's neighborhood, and which you can read (though sometimes upside down).

in "the snowy day," peter wears a red sweater with a very pointy hood. noah has a "peter sweater," made for him by the garden street ladies. it zips all the way down the back, from the tip of the pointy hood on. it's light green and super cute. i should take a picture of him in the sweater (which makes it cuter), but here it is for now, and here's peter in his.





ezra jack keats never married or had children of his own, but he always loved children and used his own experiences of prejudice (against himself as a jew) to lend credibility to the experiences of the children in his books. he was a peacemaker, and wrote and illustrated the book "god is in the mountain" to teach children about peace from the various religious traditions. this page is from the book, and seems to me to sum up the work he was trying to do.