THE SNOWY DAY AND THE ART OF EZRA JACK KEATS, Claudia J. Nahson

Although I didn’t know it when I brought home this little book from the library for my then-three-year old daughter, The Snowy Day was a ground-breaking book when first published in 1962.  Peter, the little boy in this and other beautifully written and illustrated books, was the first African-American protagonist in a full-color picture book.

Keats artistic technique featured collage, an art form I was just learning to appreciate and this book, published in conjunction with an exhibition organized by The Jewish Museum in 2011, features  75+ illustrations and essays about Keat’s life and art.

In short, this book honoring the 50^th anniversary of the publication of The Snowy Day, was a welcome reminiscence of me encountering the world of truly wonderful children’s literature, a world I now share with my grandchildren.

Yale University Press, 2011, 92 p.