![]() “Each drawing is considered not in itself, but in relationship to the rest of the book,” he explained, while keeping in mind “drama, continuity, contrast, and mood.” His preferred format was the horizontal double-page spread, which freed him to alternate close-up scenes with panoramic views. He was often more intent on capturing a mood than developing a plot. Inspired by Asian art and haiku poetry, Keats used lush color in his paintings and collages and strove for simplicity in his texts. “If,” he once remarked, “we all could really see (‘see’ as perceive, understand, discover) each other exactly as the other is, this would be a different world.” Through his picture books a visit to Keats’ neighborhood is restorative: Peter and his friends remind us of the simple joy of being alive. ![]() Yet his work transcends the personal and reflects the universal concerns of children. Keats’s experience of anti-Semitism and poverty in his youth gave him a lifelong sympathy for others who suffered prejudice and want. ![]() Primarily self-taught, he drew upon memories of growing up in East New York, one of the most deprived neighborhoods in the city. His parents were Eastern European Jewish immigrants and very poor. The author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats was born Jacob Ezra Katz in Brooklyn in 1916. ![]()
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