Author,Illustrator Awarded For Following in Keats' Path
RSSBy Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 03/22/2010
The author of a young girl’s tale of riding the Underground Railroad and the illustrator of a story about a young witch learning to fly are winners of this year’s celebrated Ezra Jack Keats award for Excellence in Children’s Literature.
Named for the author and illustrator of the beloved classic, The Snowy Day (Viking, 1962), the awards have consistently sought out new authors and illustrators who tell stories about multicultural children today—much like those Keats told in his groundbreaking books.
“Ezra broke the color barrier in American children’s publishing,” says Deborah Pope, executive director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, which co-presents the award with the New York Public Library (NYPL). “The outstanding feature of Peter in The Snowy Day is he’s just a child. He’s a black child, but it’s not a cause book. Children of all different varieties can see themselves represented in his stories.”
Author Tonya Hegamin, who won for her story Most Loved in All The World (Houghton, 2008), agrees that Keats set new standards with his tales. “His work signaled a definite shift in children’s literature,” says Hegamin, who also teaches fiction, poetry, children’s literature and composition at Brooklyn’s Medger Evers College, which is part of the City University of New York.
Hegamin herself wonders how any child—or adult—would be affected by the situation she presents in her books. “Before writing [Most Loved in All The World], I asked myself this question, ‘What would I do if I had a child while I was enslaved and had the chance of sending them away to find freedom, even if I couldn’t go,” she says.
Illustrator Taeeun Yoo, who won for her linoleum cut prints for Only A Witch Can Fly (Feiwel & Friends, 2009), also examines the stories she works on, allowing the details and subjects to dictate the way she designs the images.
“When I read the story for the first time, I was very excited with all the subjects,” she says. “Most of times the story tells me the medium or colors that I want to use.”
The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, which has managed the awards since they launched in 1985, is known for the scholarships and fellowships it offers to students, artists, writers and musicians across the country. But Keats, who wrote more than 20 books, has always had a place in the hearts of most Americans who remember his most famous story of a little boy who plays in the snow on just an ordinary—and yet sublimely magical—day.
The Snowy Day has even been selected for Jumpstart’s Read for the Record campaign, where those who read the book on October 7, 2010 can help raise millions of dollars and promote literacy for preschool children and children in need.
As for today’s newest taletellers? Both Yoo and Hegamin will be presented with their award, plus a $1,000 cash prize on April 28 at the NYPL. The two understand their stories have made an impression—but also believe they’re just part of the legacy Keats’ helped lay out nearly 50 years ago.
“I still look at those books from 50's and 60's and I find many of my favorite books from that period, and also see what children's book writers want to tell is not that much different,” says Yoo.
