Ezra Jack Keats
Background Information & Activities

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Ezra Jack Keats is one of the most beloved children’s book authors and illustrators. He has illustrated over eighty-five books and has written and illustrated twenty-four children’s books. He was among the first popular writers and illustrators to feature multi-cultural characters, and his influence on children’s literature today is undeniable.

Ezra Jack Keats was born in 1916 in New York to Polish immigrants. Keats’ father worked long hours as a waiter in a coffeeshop, and the family did not have a lot of money. Keats excelled in art as a young student and won numerous awards. Keats’ mother was very supportive of her son’s talents. His father, however, was more hesitant; he knew that making a living from art was difficult. He hoped that his son would pursue a more lucrative career. Still, he was still supportive and often brought home tubes of paint for young Ezra, under the guise that some diners had paid for their meal in art supplies. After graduating from high school, Keats won scholarships to attend art school but was unable to attend. His father passed away of a heart attack right before graduation and Keats had to work in order to support the family. Still, Keats took art classes and night and developed his passion and talents.

Keats got a job as an illustrator and illustrated comic books, magazine and newspaper articles, and covers. Remind your children that an illustrator is a person who creates pictures to go along with text. Illustrators do not just illustrate books; they can illustrate advertisements, food wrappers, and articles. Keats became interested in writing and illustrating his own work. He collaborated with Pat Cherr to write My Dog is Lost, a story about a boy who loses his dog in New York City. The boy had recently moved from Puerto Rico and does not speak English. In the story, the boy meets multi-cultural kids from all over the city, including Chinatown and Little Italy. Many of Keats’ stories draw from universal childhood experiences, such as getting bullied, having a crush, losing a pet, or getting a new sibling. The multi-cultural characters in his stories draw from those he met while growing up.

One day while reading Life Magazine, Keats found a picture of an African-American boy that inspired him. Keats began drawing several sketches of a character named Peter. Eventually this character starred in seven books, including The Snowy Day, which is about Peter’s adventures in the snow and his child-like wonder. The Snowy Day was awarded the Caldecott Award, given to the illustrator of the most distinguished American children’s book. We recommend watching the Winter movie together upon reading this book. Throughout his career, Keats won several prestigious awards, but he always kept an art award he received in junior high and regarded that as one of his most important achievements.

Keats was a skilled artist and used collages to bring his illustrations to life. He painted with gouache, an opaque watercolor, and added cutouts from patterned paper, stamps or stencils, and even ripped up newsprint to his paintings. The mixed media in his illustrations showcase Keats’ skill as an artist.

Encourage your children to find the similarities and differences in Keats’ books, in the writing and in the illustrations. Inspire them to read several books by the same author to see how characters change and grow or analyze how illustration styles change. This will help keep your children passionate about reading and writing and introduce them to different styles of art.

Ezra Jack Keats Teacher Activities – Click Here!

Ezra Jack Keats Family Activities – Click Here!

Ezra Jack Keats Teacher Activities

© 1999-2009 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Picture Books

Have partners work together to make their own picture book. They should brainstorm ideas for a story, outline the story using different graphic organizers, and write a rough draft. They should do rough sketches of the characters involved in the story and discuss setting. Together, partners can create their own picture books and write and illustrate them. Invite volunteers to share their books with the class.

Collage

Together with the class, take a look at Ezra Jack Keats’ books and analyze his illustrations. What materials does he use to create his pictures? Remind children that a collage is an artwork created by joining different materials. Have students pick their favorite book and illustrate a scene from it by creating a collage. You may with to bring in old magazines and newspapers, stamps, ink, stencils, wrapping paper, fabric scraps, and other materials.

Author Study

Have your students select their favorite author and read different works. How are the works the same? How are they different? Does the same character appear in each story? Does the same illustrator work on each book? Have students assess their chosen author and research to learn about their background. Then have students make a presentation to the class about their authors. They may wish to dress up like their author and make posters featuring a timeline, a short bio, and excerpts from books. Invite students to share their presentations with the class.

Ezra Jack Keats Family Activities

© 1999-2009 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Author Mania

Have your child pick an author that he or she likes. You may want to visit the bookstore or library together to look at different authors and books. Then read all of the author’s books together, in order. This may take a few weeks or even a few months. You may wish to create a calendar together, which offers a great math connection, to schedule reading the books. As you read together, have your child compare how all the books and illustrations are alike and different.

Childhood Experience

Remind your child that Ezra Jack Keats wrote about his childhood experiences growing up in a city. Together, find an important experience your child went through, such as getting a pet, getting a new sibling, or learning how to ride a bike. Look through old photographs together to get inspiration. Then have your child create a short story about the experience. She or he can create a collage to help illustrate the story. Create a new picture book every year so your child has a written and illustrated history of his or her important experiences.