In this article I will highlight the work of one of my favorite children's authors, Ezra Jack Keats. In particular, I will focus on a six-book series by Keats that features a single character-a boy named Peter-and that includes two of Keats's most celebrated books, The Snowy Day and Whistle for Willie. All six of these books are appropriate for children in the 3-to-5-years age category.
The subjective appeal of these books for children consists in several factors. First, the themes of the books connect with the experience of children in the 3-to-5-years age category. For example, The Snowy Day captures a child's delight at a fresh snowfall. Peter dons his adorable snowsuit with a peaked hat, makes a snowman and snow angels, and slides down a big snowy hill. Keats masterfully captures Peter's worry that the snow will be gone the next day-Peter dreams that it all melts-and his joy when he wakes up to find that more snow has fallen! Moreover, the pace and activity of the book focus the reader on the present, just as a child's perspective is anchored not so much in the past and future (as the perspective of most adults is...) but in the present.
Second, Keats's mixed-media illustrations are beautiful and interesting. The first four books of the series reflect a balance between collage and vivid gouache-an opaque watercolor paint. For example, in Peter's Chair the final scene shows Peter and his dad painting Peter's old chair pink for his new baby sister. Under the chair and can of paint Keats used actual newspaper clippings as the drop sheet, and pink gouache to show the footprints of Peter's dog Willie, who has stepped in the paint and is tracking it through the house! The final two books in the series (Hi, Cat! and Pet Show!) show a shift toward fewer collage elements and more paint, applied in a satisfyingly free style. Keats's art seems perfectly suited for the urban settings of his books.
Finally, the stories and illustrations in these books are very funny at times. For example, in Hi, Cat! Archie has been eating a mint-green ice-cream cone and has some of the ice-cream on his face. Then Peter's dog Willie comes and licks his face clean! (I have wonderful childhood memories of this very illustration...) Or, in The Snowy Day Peter innocently uses a stick to knock snow off a tree. The unexpected result: snow on the head!
Keats's books are developmentally valuable for several reasons. First, the books offer a look at healthy inner-city life, in all its multicultural color, which remains sadly rare for children's books. Virtually every character in the books is African-American or Latino, and all are part of the same functional community.
Second, the social values of family, friendship, and community are beautifully exemplified. For example, in Peter's Chair when Peter feels displaced by his new baby sister-she has claimed all his baby furniture except his chair!-and he runs away (just outside the kitchen window...), his parents playfully and lovingly woo him home.
Third, the stories and illustrations in these books are creatively excellent, and thus they contribute helpfully to a child's developing literary and aesthetic taste. Finally, the language in the books is simple enough that they will be helpful for children learning to read on their own.
In sum, I wholeheartedly recommend these six books by Ezra Jack Keats.
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