Ezra Jack Keats

• Born 1916-03-11 · Died 1983-05-06

Children book illustrator Ezra Jack Keats worked for the Iger Studio in 1940 and probably into 1941 and then working at Beck-Costanza Studio doing backgrounds and later figures and heads for Captain Marvel stories, from roughly 1941 until he joined the U.S. Army on April 13, 1943. Per Bails' Keats did pencil and ink work on Bulletman feature for Fawcett in 1943 (though miscredited to Ezra Jackson in the Who's Who). Keats books The Snowy Day (Viking Press, 1962) and Goggles! (MacMillan, 1969) are considered important landmarks in the history of children's books. The Snowy Day was included in the U.S. Department of State's 1963-1964 Graphic Arts USA tour of the U.S.S.R. The book was also honored as one of The New York Public Library’s Books of the Century in 1996 and The Library of Congress’s Books that Shaped America in 2012. Issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2017 was a set of four Snowy Day Forever stamps. In a Spring Garden was a Library of Congress Books of the Year in 1965. Keats was involved in various meetings and conferences that helped develop the Public Broadcasting Company's television show for children, Sesame Street. Keats was selected for his children's book Hi, Cat! for the American Institute of Graphic Arts Children's Book Show, a biennial selection for typographic and artistic merit for 1969-1970. He received the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in 1970 for outstanding illustrations. Apt. 3 and The King’s Fountain were both one of the School Library Journal’s Best Books in 1971. Keats received the Brooklyn Art Books for Children Citation in 1973. The Trip was awarded the Children’s Choices Award, International Reading Association and the Children’s Book Council in 1977. Biographical information: Publisher's Weekly (R. R. Bowker, 1872 series) v189#14 (April 4, 1966); The Horn Book Magazine (The Horn Book, 1924 series) August 1963 [Caldecott acceptance speech.], June 1964; Ezra Jack Keats Foundation: https://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/section/about-ezra/ and https://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/ezras-life/; A complete listing of awards and honors: https://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/awards-honors/; Wikipedia, "Ezra Jack Keats": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Jack_Keats.