The Bottom Line
Keats's Neighborhood, a beautifully designed book, is a collection of ten children's picture books containing the incomparable stories and artwork of Ezra Jack Keats. The multicultural characters and depiction of life in the city in these stories are characteristic of the children's picture books of Ezra Jack Keats. Keats's Neighborhood also includes background information on the life and books of Ezra Jack Keats.
Pros
- Ten complete stories
- Keats's mixed media artwork
- Background information on Keats
- Large size makes it a good read-aloud for home or classroom
Cons
- Rather large for a small child to handle easily
Description
- The book was published by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers in 2002 (ISBN: 0670035866).
- It's a large format (10" x 10 1/2") hardbound book, 128 pages long, with cover art by Keats.
- Keats's Neighborhood includes a fascinating introduction by literary critic Anita Silvey.
- The book contains comments and artwork by four other illustrators and writers influenced by Keats.
- Jerry Pinkney, Simms Taback, Reynold Ruffin, and Eric Carle discuss Keats' influence on their work.
- There is also a chronological listing of books by Keats.
- Stories include The Snowy Day, Whistle for Willie, A Letter to Amy, and Peter's Chair.
- Other stories are Goggles!, a Caldecott Honor Book, Jennie's Hat, Apt. 3, and Hi, Cat!.
- The final two stories in Keats's Neighborhood are Louie's Search, and Pet Show!.
- At the end of the book is an illustrated seven-page biography of Ezra Jack Keats.
Guide Review - Keats's Neighborhood
One of the wonderful things about anniversaries is that publishers often create special books in their honor. That's the case with Keat's Neighborhood: An Ezra Jack Keats Treasury published in 2002 in honor of the 40th anniversary of The Snowy Day. Keats was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1963 for the book, which was "the first major full-color picture book to portray a black child." (Introduction by Anita Silvey, p. 8). Keats's wonderful mixedmedia artwork, his simple stories about life in the city, his multicultural characters, and his emphasis on universal themes have made many of his books classics. This collection contains ten of his best, along with Silvey's essay and information on Keats' influence on children's literature.
