The Snowy Day. written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats. 1962. 32p. New York: HarperCollins. (006025565X).
Author/Illustrator Website: www.ezra-jack-keats.org
Medium: gouache and collage
Awards and Honors: Caldecott Medal, 1963
Audience: 2 and up
Annotation: A young boy named Peter has a special day playing in the newly fallen snow.
Personal Reaction:
Published in 1962, The Snowy Day is Ezra Jack Keats' beautiful story of a young boy's adventures playing in the newly fallen snow. It is a benchmark of children's literature in that is the first full-color picture book to feature an African-American protagonist. While many people have debated Keats' work in regards to its depiction (or non-depiction) of race, these criticisms miss the point.
The Snowy Day depicts the world with a childlike innocence and shows the reader the magic in what some may consider mundane. There is a quiet vibrance in his blending of paper collage and gouache, as well as in his simple writing. Keats captures the sense of wonder in everyday situations that very young children possess. It is this quality, coupled with Keats' expressive and elegant illustrations, that have made The Snowy Day a favorite children's book for 50 years.
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