Oh, This Day Of Days

There are those books you remember how you felt as you were reading them for the first time.  You recall with clarity what popped into your mind when you finished and closed the cover.  You immediately open it and read the book again.  When you read it a third time you read it aloud, hearing the music the words make; their rhythm and flow washing around you like soft, warm air.  These books fill you with gratitude for being able to read this kind of beauty.

They reach out to you.  They teach you.  A Poem For Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of THE SNOWY DAY (Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, November 1, 2016) written by Andrea Davis Pinkney with illustrations by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson is such a book.  Every aspect of this title is remarkable.

BROWN-SUGAR BOY in a blanket of white.
Bright as the day you came onto the page.
From the hand of a man who saw you for you.

Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz was the third and youngest child of Benjamin and Gussie, Jewish immigrants from Poland.  They made a home in one of the poorer places in Brooklyn, New York.  Benjamin worked as a waiter in a cafe.  Gussie had dreams of being a painter but she buried those beneath disappointment.

By the time he was eight years old, Ezra's talent and desire to paint began to shine.  He painted signs for merchants bringing money to the family.  But Ezra wanted more.  He wanted to be an artist.

His dad secretly used money to buy him paints and his teachers and friends offered encouragement.  Ezra discovered treasure in the Brooklyn Public Library.  Here he learned more than he thought possible about his world.  Here he could let his mind go free turning the impossible into the possible.

When he was in high school his painting Shantytown, depicting the darkness and despair of men out of work during the Depression, garnered him notice and scholarships but fate stepped in.  Death came calling.  Ezra's father died of a heart attack.  There was no graduation.  There was no art school.

Surviving on bits of work here and there, Ezra was finally fortunate to be a part of The Works Progress Administration, a piece of President Roosevelt's The New Deal.  From there he drew for comic books, creating heroes but something was missing.  The missing something appeared in a Life magazine article.  Ezra saved this something for decades.  From this a tiny speck began to grow.

After serving in the military during World War II, Ezra officially changed his name to Ezra Jack Keats.  He was well aware of the bias attached to those of Jewish heritage.  Slowly a crystal grew with branches being added until the wonderful year of 1962 when a snowflake formed.  This was the year Peter was introduced to the world.  This was the year when the something missing was seen by everyone.  And to this day we are all, yes, every single one of us, far better than we were before The Snowy Day. 


We understand the sensory sensation we experience during and after attending a play, a musical or a concert in which we have been not only entertained but moved by the performances.  After reading Andrea David Pinkney's words in this tribute piece to Ezra Jack Keats and The Snowy Day, you will find yourself applauding; more than willing to give it a standing ovation.  There is a beat in this poetic narrative which is in sync with the human heart.  It grows and swells within you.

The blend of fact and jubilation for this man and his work is marvelous.  You find yourself pausing and thinking, I didn't know that, before being caught up in the cadence once more. It's a shout.  It's a song.  It's lessons.  It's love...love of a man who

gave us eyes to see.

Here is a partial passage from a single page; one of my many favorite passages.

Snow made opportunity and equality
seem right around the corner.
Because, you see, Snow is nature's we-all blanket.
When Snow spreads her sheet, we all glisten.
When Snow paints the streets, we all see her beauty.


For those of us who have read The Snowy Day and shared it repeatedly over the years with others, the matching dust jacket and book case is cause for contemplation and celebration.  The image of Ezra Jack Keats walking with Peter is heartwarming.  If there is a place where characters can meet their creators, this is that place. To the left, on the back, three separate poses of Peter surround a photograph of Ezra Jack Keats within a snowy shape.  A rusty, burnt orange shade covers the opening and closing endpapers.

Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson rendered

the paintings for this book in acrylic, collage, and pencil on paper, using images from The Snowy Day, Peter's Chair, Hi, Cat, and Jennie's Hat.

Their color choices reflect the historical period of Ezra's lifetime including actual memorabilia.  Their layout and design envelopes and elevates the narrative.  Some of the page turns will leave you gasping or sighing.

Their attention to detail will have you stopping; the picture of Peter, a lion and a lamb signifying the birth of Ezra, a piece of newsprint with the partial word tenement stuck in a railing outside Ezra's home, dreams in the steam coming from Gussie's cup of coffee and the shattered pathway of Ezra's hopes as graduation floats away.  Fancher and Johnson vary their image sizes.  They select a single page, a double page or a group of pictures over two pages to intensify the text.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the entire passage about snow in the beginning.  A varied pale blue background replete with snowflakes provides a place for buildings in Brooklyn.  The text is on the left.  On the right the darkened windows in the tenements make the lamp post light glow brighter.  It sits at the end of a broken fence row.  A tiny red mitten on a tiny piece of paper lays in the snow.  It hints of Peter's life growing.


A Poem For Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of THE SNOWY DAY written by Andrea Davis Pinkney with pictures by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson will lift your spirits sky high.  It will have you reaching for your copy of The Snowy Day and reading it over and over and over again.  Andrea Davis Pinkney talks about Ezra's Legacy for three pages at the book's conclusion.  She also talks about the form of her text in Keats, The Collage Poet.  A bibliography of Ezra Jack Keats' books is included as well as acknowledgments and a bibliography of books, websites, research collection archival materials and interviews.

To discover more about Andrea Davis Pinkney and Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson and their work please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Please stop at The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation to read more about this title and the man.  Andrea Davis Pinkney wrote a piece for November Picture Book Month, 2016.  This title was chosen by The New York Times as Children's Books That Tackle Race And Ethnicity.  Andrea Davis Pinkney is a guest on All The Wonders, Episode 300 hosted by teacher librarian Matthew Winner.  Andrea Davis Pinkney is interviewed at Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb.

Update: Andrea Davis Pinkney is a guest at NPR Books, December 1, 2016.


Please be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other titles selected by participating bloggers in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

To The Rescue

Heroes and heroines are created every single day.  Surely the simplest act of kindness is part of the code of champions, consciously or unconsciously.  Being brave, stepping out of your comfort zone, in little or big ways is a deed worthy of notice; even if you are the only one who knows.

Every time I hear my dog snoring at night, see the array of autumn colors spread across the horizon, taste the first sip of hot chocolate, smell the lilac blooms on the bush given to me by my students or feel the cozy softness of a blanket received from a friend, I am grateful for the full use of my senses.  To have all this and lose one of them at a very early age used to be beyond my comprehension.  In a single day understanding was given to me by Cece Bell when I read her new graphic novel, El Deafo (Amulet Books, color by David Lasky), released September 2, 2014.

I was a regular little kid.  I played with my mom's stuff.
I watched TV with my big brother, Ashley, and my big sister, Sarah.
I rode on the back of my father's bicycle.

With the next twenty-one chapters Cece Bell opens up her life experiences to readers beginning with her hospital stay for meningitis, which robs her of most of her hearing at age four, up through fifth grade.  We realize when she does her world is filled with too much quiet.  The trip to the first audiologist, the tests and molds made for her first hearing aid are shared by her four-year-old self, depicted with clarity and sincerity.  As she enters kindergarten but attends a different school other than her best friend Emma, we learn every step of the way with Cece as she faces the challenges of her deafness.

Before the beginning of first grade her family moves to a new town.  This year Cece will be attending a regular public school.  To assist her hearing, she is wearing a new Phonic Ear.  Her teacher wears a microphone around her neck so Cece does not miss a single word of class instruction.  What Cece does not know until the first day is this device gives her the ability to hear people, Mrs. Lufton, outside of the classroom.

Just like Bruce Wayne uses all that crazy technology to turn himself into Batman on TV...

Even though her hearing feels like super hearing, she is still lonely.  She is still different.  She becomes friends with a classmate who tends to be more bossy than attentive to Cece and her ideas.  In fact when third grade starts, she is relieved Laura has another teacher.

For a while another girl seems to be the kind of friend Cece needs but her way of talking to her is very annoying.  Ginny's friends (and Ginny) can't understand how Cece feels.  It is during one of her low moments watching TV with her brother and sister, a character gives her the idea of becoming El Deafo.  Readers once again see the courage of Cece Bell.

We follow her through fourth and fifth grade ups and downs, inside and outside the classroom. We feel her frustration when required to take a signing class, her excitement meeting a girl across the street, Martha, her giddiness of a first crush on a new neighbor, Mike Miller, her sadness at being thought a cheat, her helplessness with an insensitive physical education teacher, her panic at the loss of the Phonic Ear and her joy when using her super powers and regaining the presence of a treasured friend.   How fortunate for us in reading El Deafo we spend six years with Cece Bell.  We get to read and reread passages deepening our sensitivity toward differences in all of us.


 Readers can easily and quickly identify with Cece Bell in this memoir.  Her blend of dialogue shown in speech bubbles, whether in real time or in her mind's eye especially as El Deafo, with her first person narrative text causes us to feel an array of emotions identical to hers or in response to her situations.  We see the warmth and humor of the adult Bell present throughout this book.  No matter her age, Cece Bell is the real deal.

Here is a sample passage from her first school class in kindergarten.  What I like about this is we not only get to see Cece's observations but her resilience rises to the top.  Even before El Deafo makes an appearance Bell tends to look for the silver lining in any given situation.

But everything is still so new, and so different, for all of us.  Most of the time we are lost, drifting along on our own planets.
But we are together in the same universe, at least.


Each page is composed of a series of panels in varying sizes with a small white border around each, for the most part.  Bell designates the difference in her imagined scenes by using a pale green scalloped edge around each of the clustered elements.  When she is hearing something through the Phonic Ear golden yellow edged in red jagged edges defines these sections.

Larger illustrations are used to draw focus to the most memorable moments, not so good and spectacularly wonderful.  I love the animated facial features and body movements on each bunny person in this book.  Bell is able to convey every nuance of every situation to her readers.

I have so many favorite pictures but the series on pages 137 through 140 when she and Martha are jumping on the Miller's trampoline are particularly heartwarming.  We are privy to the real Cece Bell's and El Deafo's feelings about Mike Miller.  We can't help but smile because every single person can identify on some level with her feelings.  That is what makes not only these visuals but all of them so special.


To me El Deafo written and illustrated by Cece Bell is a gift freely and masterfully given to all readers.  It is a memorable and rare opportunity to gain insight into another person's life.  Any individual who reads this book will find their lives enriched tenfold.

In a series of blog posts listed below, Cece Bell shares her experiences in creating El Deafo.
El Deafo Honors David Lasky, colorist extraordinaire!
Check it out: Sock Monkey tries the Phonic Ear in a photo comic!
El Deafo Extras: Don't judge a book by its rejected covers! Plus Decatur Book Festival Stuff!
El Deafo Extras: The Bell family looked a lot like the Addams Family back in the day!
El Deafo Extras: Childhood drawings from my time in the hospital, and superhero origin stories
El Deafo Extras: Childhood photos through the ages
El Deafo Extras: The George and Barbara Bell Show
El Deafo Extras: Audiology and ephemera from Mom's vault
El Deafo Extras: Speech therapy
El Deafo Extras: From outline to finished product
El Deafo Extras: A quick post!
El Deafo Extras! BIG EVENT!!! The real Martha Ann Claytor Chadwick came to see me today!
El Deafo officially comes out tomorrow!   Yeehaw, book birthday!
It's here! It's finally here! El Deafo arrives via Pony Express...er, UPS!
El Deafo Extras: What did El Deafo first look like?
El Deafo Extras: Mrs. Lufton revealed! (Well, kinda.) Plus MINI BOOK TOUR only a week away! (DC area peeps, I'd love to see you!)

To discover more about Cece Bell and her work you can head over to a chat she had with Erin E. Stead and Philip C. Stead at Number Five Bus Presents... .  She recently was a guest at Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast sharing artwork from this book. Crafting a graphic novel-memoir is the title of an interview at the A. B. Westrick site.  She stops in for a visit at author Kirby Larson's blog, Kirby's Lane: Friend Friday.  In Sneaky Peeks Video #15: Cece Bell discusses El Deafo at the Wild Things! Acts Of Mischief In Children's Literature site we learn even more.  Update:  Here is a recent post at School Library Journal,  SLJ Chats with Cece Bell About her Graphic Novel Memoir 'El Deafo' | Up Close.  Cece Bell was interviewed on NPR Books.  Cece Bell stopped by teacher librarian Matthew C. Winner's Let's Get Busy Podcast.