Keats, Ezra Jack, 1916–83, American author and illustrator of children's books, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Jacob Ezra Katz. During the Great Depression, he painted murals for the Works Progress Administration and illustrated comic books, then joined the U.S. Army (1943), where he designed camouflage patterns. After studying art in Paris in 1949, he returned to New York and worked as a commercial artist and children's book illustrator, developing a collage technique using scraps of patterned and marbleized paper. His many books for children include The Snowy Day (1962; Caldecott Medal), one of the first picture books to feature an African-American child (Peter) as a main character, and Whistle for Willie (1964), Peter's Chair (1967), A Letter to Amy (1968), and Goggles! (1969), which tell of Peter's further adventures.
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