When he saw those signs, he changed his name to Ezra Jack Keats. 'There were literally signs in windows that said: 'Jews need not apply.' Ezra was born with the name Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz. After serving in the Army, Keats returned to face discrimination at home. In 1962, a little boy named Peter put on his snowsuit and stepped out of his house and into the hearts of millions of readers. As a child, Keats wanted to become an artist, but his father died when he was a teen, World War II broke out, and his dreams were put on hold. City streets, sidewalks, stoops - everything that I held so dear.'Īs she worked on the biography, Pinkney learned that Keats was also a city kid, the child of immigrants who fled anti-Semitism in Poland. 'And here was this book that made my life, my experience, valid. 'Up to that point, there were many picture books but they were in rural settings,' she says. When Pinkney was asked to write a book about Keats, she says she jumped at the chance 'like a kid on a sled.' The Snowy Day was her favorite book as a child she says it brought her comfort to see her own life reflected on the page. Your purchase helps support NPR programming.

Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title A Poem for Peter Subtitle The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day Author Andrea Davis Pinkney, Lou Fancher, et al Ezra Jack Keats books come to life Adventure with Peter as he grows up and explores the wide and wonderful world around him. Andrea Davis Pinkney is The New York Times bestselling and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author of numerous books for children, including A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day.

Peter and the snowy day