2013 Ezra Jack Keats Award Winners

2013 Writer Award

Julie Fogliano

“I always wanted to write,” says Julie Fogliano. “I was a writing major in college, and spent some time fine-tuning the kind of writing I wanted to do. Then, being around children’s literature in different capacities, teaching kindergarten, and working in children’s publishing and in a children’s bookstore, there was no question about who I would write for.” And Then It’s Spring, beautifully illustrated by Erin E. Stead, is Julie’s first book; her second is If You Want to See a Whale, published in May 2013. She lives in Olive, New York, with her husband and three children.

And Then It’s Spring

Neal Porter Books/Roaring Brook Press

After months of snow, a boy and his dog agree that enough is enough, and decide to plant a garden. They dig, plant, play and wait…and wait…until at long last, shades of green begin to replace the brown. Spring is in the air!

2013 Illustrator Award

Hyewon Yum

“Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten, is based on a true story,” says Hyewon Yum. “My son was going to kindergarten, and I felt like the 5-year-old—he wasn’t afraid, but I was nervous. My son said, ‛Mom, that’s not how you are!’ He didn’t even notice how nervous I was.” Hyewon (pronounced Hay-won), who grew up in South Korea and went to graduate school in New York, wrote and illustrated three previous books: The Twins’ Blanket, There are No Scary Wolves and Last Night. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten!

Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus Giroux

The playful use of color and size capture the emotional highs and lows of the first day of kindergarten for both mother and child.

2013 Honor Books

  • Writer Honor

    Mara Rockliff
    My Heart Will Not Sit Down
    knopf
    A young girl in Cameroon learns about people going hungry in her teacher’s village—New York—because of the Depression. How her village tries to help is based on true events.

    Fun Facts

  • Writer Honor

    Jennifer Lanthier
    The Stamp Collector
    The lives of a boy who loves stamps and a boy who loves books connect fatefully in a universal tale of oppression and hope, inspired by true events.

    Fun Facts

  • Writer Honor

    Don Tate
    It Jes’ Happened
    Bill Traylor, a former slave, became a self-taught artist at 85. His simple, powerful drawings survived thanks to an admiring young artist, who made sure the world took notice.

    Fun Facts

  • Illustrator Honor

    K.G. Campbell
    Lester’s Dreadful Sweaters
    Lester is a neat, meticulous boy with an elderly cousin who knits him horrible, outlandish sweaters faster than he can ruin them. Then he meets a troupe of clowns...problem solved!

    Fun Facts

  • Illustrator Honor

    Sanjay Patel
    Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth
    In this playful tale from Hindu mythology, the elephant-headed god Ganesha loves candy and has a friend named Mr. Mouse—yet somehow he manages to write the epic poem the Mahabarata.