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Bringing a multicultural spirit to children's literature

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Illustrated by Ezra

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God is in the Mountain

Henry Holt (out of print), 1966

Keats surrounds short texts from different religious traditions with illustrations of simplicity and strength, to explore and to celebrate the universality of spiritual thought.

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In a Spring Garden

Dial (now Scholastic), 1965

In this collection of haiku, edited by Richard Lewis, Keats’s artwork underscores the spare and beautiful words that describe the delicate balances of nature, such as this poem by Issa: “A red morning sky, For you, snail; Are you glad about it?

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In the Park: An Excursion in Four Languages

Macmillan, 1968 (out of print)

Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats and written by Esther Hautzig, In the Park is an inviting and innovative children’s book. On a beautiful, sunny day, families go to the park—in New York, Paris, Madrid and Moscow. The names of things they see, from bicycles to zoo animals, are given in English, French, Spanish and Russian. But the book is more than a vocabulary-builder. Ezra’s lively and colorful illustrations show a multicultural world shared by happy, active families. A similar book written today might have different cities, but the same question remains: If families can treat others with grace, perhaps nations can too?

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Over in the Meadow

Four Winds Press (now Viking), 1971

An Appalachian counting rhyme evokes a lush meadow bustling with activity—one turtle digs, two fish swim and so on, up to 10 little fireflies that shine in the night. Keats’s vibrant illustrations perfectly complement this traditional verse, sure to delight the youngest reader.

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The King’s Fountain

E.P. Dutton (out of print), 1971

Keats illustrates Lloyd Alexander’s dramatic fable with paintings of brilliant intensity. A king decides to create a wonderful palace fountain, which will divert the water supply from the city below. A poor man searches for someone who can persuade the king to change his mind. Finding no one willing, or better able, to reason with the king, he takes on the fearful task himself.

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The Little Drummer Boy

Macmillan (now Viking), 1968

A poor child wants to see the baby Jesus, but has nothing to offer that would be worthy of royalty. Or so he thinks. Keats’s glowing illustrations capture the spirit of wonder in this well-loved Christmas song, as a young boy learns that a gift from the heart can be the best present of all.

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The Naughty Boy

Viking, 1965

This mischievous poem first appeared in a letter written by a young John Keats, who called it “a song about myself.” It has been beloved by children ever since. Ezra Jack Keats has caught the poet’s whimsical spirit and kept his drawings simple to let us better imagine the wanderings of the naughty boy who “could not quiet be.”

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And Long Remember, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. McGraw Hill, 1959

Apple Orchard, by Irmengarde Eberle. H.Z. Walck, 1962

The Brave Riders, by Glenn Balch. Crowell, 1959

The Buffalo and the Bell, by Myra Scott Scovel. Friendship Press, 1963

A Change of Climate, by Jay Williams. Random House, 1956

Chester, by Eleanor Clymer. Dodd Mead, 1954

The Chinese Knew, by Tillie S. Pine and Joseph Levine. McGraw-Hill, 1958

Danny Dunn and the Anti-gravity Paint, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin. McGraw-Hill, 1957image

Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin. McGraw-Hill, 1958

Danny Dunn and the Weather Machine, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, McGraw-Hill, 1959

Danny Dunn on a Desert Island, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin. Whittlesey House, 1957

Desmond’s First Case, by Herbert Best. Viking, 1961

The Egyptians Knew, by Tillie S. Pine and Joseph Levine. McGraw-Hill, 1964

The Eskimos Knew, by Tillie S. Pine and Joseph Levine. McGraw-Hill, 1962

Farm Dog, by David Malcolmson. Little, Brown, 1963

Felipe’s Long Journey: A Story of the Andes, by Edna Jennings Sorensen. Franklin Watts, 1961

A Flood in Still River, by Bianca Bradbury. Dial Books, 1961

The Flying Cow, by Ruth P. Collins. H.Z. Walck, 1963

The Gobbler Called, by Verne T. Davis. William Morrow, 1963

Grasses, by Irmengarde Eberle. H.Z. Walck, 1960

Hawaii: A Book to Begin On, by Juliet M. Swenson. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963

How Animals Sleep: A Time for Sleep, by Millicent E. Selsam. Scholastic, 1962

How to be a Nature Detective, by Millicent E. Selsam. Scholastic, 1963 (reissued in 1973 as How to be an Animal Detective)

Indian Two Feet and His Horse, by Margaret Friskey. Scholastic, 1964

In the Night, by Paul Showers. Crowell, 1961

In the Park: An Excursion in Four Languages, by Esther R. Hautzig. Macmillan, 1968

The Indians Knew, by Tillie S. Pine. McGraw-Hill, 1957image

Jim Can Swim, by Helen D. Olds. Knopf, 1963

Jubilant for Sure, by Elisabeth Hubbard Lansing. Crowell, 1954

Jumblies, by Edward Lear. Best In Children’s Books, Vol. 17; Doubleday, 1959

Krishna and the White Elephant, by Ruth Collins. H.Z. Walck, 1961

Little Hawk and the Free Horses, by Glenn Balch. Crowell, 1957

Mystery on the Isle of Skye, by Phyllis A. Whitney. Westminster, 1955

Night, compiled by Ezra Jack Keats, photographs by Beverly Hall. Atheneum, 1969

Nihal, by Eleanor A. Murphey. Crowell, 1960

Our Rice Village in Cambodia, by Ruth Tooze. Viking, 1963

Panoramas, edited by William S. Gray, Marion Monroe, A. Sterl Artley and May Hill Arbuthnot. Scott Foresman, 1957

The Peg-Legged Pirate of Sulu, by Cora Cheney. Knopf, 1960

Penny Tunes and Princesses, by Myron Levoy. Harper & Row, 1972

The Peterkin Papers, by Lucretia P. Hale. Doubleday, 1963

The Pilgrims Knew, by Tillie S. Pine and Joseph Levine. McGraw-Hill, 1957

The Rice Bowl Pet, by Patricia Miles Martin. Crowell, 1962

Song of the River, by Billy C. Clark. Crowell, 1957

Sounds We Hear, by Gerald S. Craig and Beatrice D. Hurley. Best in Children’s Books, Vol. 10; Doubleday, 1958

Speedy Digs Downside Up, by Maxine W. Kumin. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1964

Sure Thing for Shep, by Elisabeth Hubbard Lansing. Crowell, 1956

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That First Easter, by Henry Denker. Crowell, 1959

Three Children of Chile, by Ella Huff Kepple. Friendship Press, 1961

Three Young Kings, by George Albee. Franklin Watts, 1956

Tia Maria’s Garden, by Ann Nolan Clark. Viking, 1963

The Time of the Wolves, by Verne T. Davis. William Morrow, 1962

The Tournament of the Lions, by Jay Williams. H.Z. Walck, 1960

Tres Casas, Tres Familias, by Edna Beiler. Friendship Press, 1964

Two Tickets to Freedom: The True Story of Ellen and William Craft, Fugitive Slaves, by Florence B. Freedman. Simon & Schuster, 1971

Wee Joseph, by William MacKellar. McGraw-Hill, 1957

What a Magnet Can Do, by Gerald S. Craig and Sara E. Baldwin. Best in Children’s Books, Vol. 1; Doubleday, 1957

What Eddie Brought Home, by Carolyn Haywood. Best in Children’s Books, Vol. 9; Doubleday, 1958

What Good Is a Tail? by Solveig P. Russell. Bobbs Merrill, 1962

Wonder Tales of Dogs and Cats, by Frances Carpenter. Doubleday, 1955

Your Own Aquarium, by Victor C. Smith, Barbara Henderson and W.R. Teeters. Best in Children’s Books, Vol. 4; Doubleday, 1957

Zoo, Where Are You? by Ann McGovern. Harper & Row, 1964

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