Author Unit: Ezra Jack Keats

Meet Peter, his dog, Willie, and all the friends in Keats’s neighborhood.

Long before multicultural characters and themes were fashionable, Ezra Jack Keats crossed social boundaries by being the first American picture-book maker to give the black child a central place in children’s literature. The characters in Keats’s books come from the community around him and his own experience growing up. Many of his stories illustrate family life, the simple pleasures and more complex problems that a child often encounters in his daily routine.

The following books are included in this unit:

The Snowy Day
Whistle for Willie
Peter's Chair
A Letter to Amy
Pet Show