Ezra Jack Keats (b. 1916)
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Biography:
Children book illustrator Ezra Jack Keats worked for the Iger Studio in 1940 and probably into 1941 and then working at Beck-Costanza Studio doing backgrounds and later figures and heads for Captain Marvel stories, from roughly 1941 until he joined the U.S. Army on April 13, 1943.
Per Bails' Keats did pencil and ink work on Bulletman feature for Fawcett in 1943 (though miscredited to Ezra Jackson in the Who's Who).
Keats books The Snowy Day (Viking Press, 1962) and Goggles! (MacMillan, 1969) are considered important landmarks in the history of children's books.
The Snowy Day was included in the U.S. Department of State's 1963-1964 Graphic Arts USA tour of the U.S.S.R. The book was also honored as one of The New York Public Library’s Books of the Century in 1996 and The Library of Congress’s Books that Shaped America in 2012. Issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2017 was a set of four Snowy Day Forever stamps.
In a Spring Garden was a Library of Congress Books of the Year in 1965.
Keats was involved in various meetings and conferences that helped develop the Public Broadcasting Company's television show for children, Seasame Street.
Keats was selected for his children's book Hi, Cat! for the American Institute of Graphic Arts Children's Book Show, a biennial selection for typographic and artistic merit for 1969-1970.
He received the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in 1970 for outstanding illustrations.
Apt. 3 and The King’s Fountain were both one of the School Library Journal’s Best Books in 1971.
Keats received the Brooklyn Art Books for Children Citation in 1973.
The Trip was awarded the Children’s Choices Award, International Reading Association and the Children’s Book Council in 1977.
Biographical information:
Publisher's Weekly (R. R. Bowker, 1872 series) v189#14 (April 4, 1966);
The Horn Book Magazine (The Horn Book, 1924 series) August 1963 [Caldecott acceptance speech.], June 1964;
Ezra Jack Keats Foundation: https://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/section/about-ezra/ and https://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/ezras-life/;
A complete listing of awards and honors: https://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/awards-honors/;
Wikipedia, "Ezra Jack Keats": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Jack_Keats.
Notes:
Secondary Bails' Who's Who entries for Keats: http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=KATZ%2c+EZRA, http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=KEATS%2c+EZRA, and http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=KEATS%2c+JACK (misidentified as belonging to Ezra Jackson, see below).
Not to be confused with Ezra Jackson. It looks like Jerry Bails' Who's Who confuses the credits of Ezra Jack Keats with that of Ezra Jackson, crediting items that seem to belong to Keats to Jackson. Keats's work in comic books stopped in April 1943 as he joined the U.S. Army. Jackson's comic book career does not begin until the end of 1944 after he graduated from the High School of Industrial Art in June 1944.
The Who's Who entry attached to Keats belongs to Ezra Jackson, due to the mixing of the work of Ezra Jack Keats and Ezra Jackson. In the Who's Who entry, all comic book work dated 1943 and before belongs to Ezra Jack Keats. All comic book work dated 1944 onwards belongs to Ezra Jackson.
Who's who credits listed under Ezra Jackson believed belonging to Ezra Jack Keats have been added to his bio or attached to his creator entry.
Name:
- Disambiguation: Children's book illustrator and Captain Marvel background artist
Other Names:
-
Ezra Jacob Katz
Type: Common Alternative Name
Given name: Ezra Jacob Family name: Katz -
Jacob Ezra Katz
Type: Name at Birth
Given name: Jacob Ezra Family name: Katz -
Ezra Keats
Type: Common Alternative Name
-
Jack Keats
Type: Common Alternative Name
Relations:
-
Employee of
- Beck-Costanza Studio
Notes: Keats did pencil and ink work for the studio, possibly in 1941 and definitely in 1942 and up to his enlistment in the U.S. Army in April 1943. Jerry Bails' Who's Who inadvertently credits this studio job to Ezra Jackson. -
Employee of
- Iger Shop
Notes: Keats did pencil and ink work for the studio from 1940 to probably sometime in 1941. Jerry Bails' Who's Who inadvertently credits this studio job to Ezra Jackson. Bails also lists the years as the 1940s, but Keats October 1940 draft registration card confirms he was then employed by "Jerald Iger" and probably switched to the Beck-Costanza Shop sometime during 1941.
Memberships:
-
Author's Guild Type: member
Notes: Jerry Bails' Who's Who inadvertently credits this membership to Ezra Jackson. -
P.E.N. [PEN American Center] Type: member
Notes: Jerry Bails' Who's Who inadvertently credits this membership to Ezra Jackson. -
Society of Illustrators Type: member
Notes: Jerry Bails' Who's Who inadvertently credits this membership to Ezra Jackson.
Non Comics Works:
-
Publication Title: [Christmas {Greeting} Cards] (other) - Role: artist - Year: 1966
Employer Name : United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
Work Title: Theme: Peace
Notes: Keats was invited to create a set of five Christmas/Greeting Cards for the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in 1966. It was the first of its kind and over one million sets were sold. The theme of the cards was peace. -
Publication Title: [Murals] (fine arts) - Role: artist - Years: 1934?; 1935?; 1936?; 1937?; 1938?; 1939?; 1940?
Employer Name : Works Progress Administration / Work Projects Administration (WPA)
Notes: Keats worked as a muralist for the WPA during the Great Depression. Dates not known. Jerry Bails' Who's Who inadvertently credits this studio job to Ezra Jackson. -
Publication Title: [participant] (other) - Role: employee
Employer Name : Black Psychiatrists of America Conference on Children's Film
Notes: Keats was a participant at the Black Psychiatrists of America Conference on Children's Film, date unknown. -
Publication Title: [participant] (other) - Role: employee - Year: 1971
Employer Name : White House Conference on Children and Youth
Notes: Keats was a participant in 1971 with the White House Conference on Children and Youth. The conference was held from April 18 to April 21, 1971, at the YMCA of the Rockies (Estes Park, Colorado). The conference focused on healthy personality development through the individuality of children. -
Publication Title: [teacher] (other) - Role: employee
Employer Name : School of Visual Arts
Notes: Dates Keats taught are unknown. Jerry Bails' Who's Who inadvertently credits this teaching job to Ezra Jackson. -
Publication Title: [teacher] (other) - Role: employee
Employer Name : Workshop School [New York City]
Notes: The years Keats taught at the Workshop School are not known. Jerry Bails' Who's Who inadvertently credits this teaching job to Ezra Jackson.
