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A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day
A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day
A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day
Audiobook34 minutes

A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, a celebration of the extraordinary life of Ezra Jack Keats, creator of The Snowy Day. Andrea Davis Pinkney's powerful and poetic text tells the story of Ezra Jack Keats, who was born in Brooklyn in 1916, and grew up in extreme poverty. Keats's artistic talent was recognized even in high school, but his father's death made it impossible for him to accept the art school scholarship he was offered; however, Keats continued to study art informally whenever possible. He served in the army in World War II and subsequently lived in Paris, Eventually, Keats found his way to children's books, and with the groundbreaking Caldecott winner The Snowy Day, the first mainstream picture book to feature an African American child, he became part of children's literature history. Keats's best-loved books are the ones that portray the neighborhood where he grew up. He was an inspiration to many artists of color, who, for the first time, saw themselves reflected in his books. The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation was established after his death, with the goal of promoting more diverse books and helping new authors and illustrators. A perfect match for the text is the art of Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, who use a colorful collage style to suggest Keats's own art. With beautiful writing from a distinguished author and about a distinguished author/artist, A Poem for Peter has the potential to be an award-winner.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 7, 2017
ISBN9781501959158
A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day
Author

Andrea Davis Pinkney

Andrea Davis Pinkney is the New York Times best-selling author of several books for young readers, including the novel Bird in a Box, a Today Show Al Roker Book Club for Kids pick, and Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America, winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award. Additional works include the Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor book Duke Ellington, illustrated by her husband, Brian Pinkney; and Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, a Coretta Scott King Honor book and winner of the Carter G. Woodson Award. Andrea Davis Pinkney lives in New York City.

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Rating: 4.451219585365854 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    lyrical tribute to Ezra Jack Keats
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Snowy Day is a 4 star book for me, though not particularly memorable from my childhood, even though it was introduced to my 4th grade class by one of our school librarians when it was a brand new book. As an adult I think I more fully appreciate it. I was very eager to read this book, a book about its creator.I’m so delighted that this will be the last book I finish in 2016. It’s so apropos for what’s going on in current events. I guess that’s always been true, but I found it especially touching right now.Stellar job! I found everything about this book impressive and spectacular: the biographical information, the art, the poem (just bits at times didn’t work that well for me, but overall it was excellent,) the materials included at the end, everything! I learned a lot and had my memory refreshed for some things. It does great justice to Ezra’s story and to Peter’s story too.I was deeply emotionally moved by the artist’s story and by what he did with his career and his life. We desperately needed the Snowy Day book in 1962. Today we need books like this. Even though this is a children’s picture book (best suited to middle grade readers) I highly recommend it to every reader.