Nominated by the New York Public Library as one of the top 100 influential authors of children's books, author/illustrator Ezra Jack Keats is known most notably for his groundbreaking picture book The Snowy Day, which won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustration. But Keats's brilliance goes way beyond this early book, extending over almost two dozen books for children. In this collecrtion of essays, W. Nikola-Lisa explores the centrality of play thoughout Keats's oeuvre, from the playful antics of Keats's main characters to the author/illustrator's own playfulness as a graphic artist.
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Title: Ezra Jack Keats at Play in the World of Children's Books
Author: W. Nikola-Lisa
Design Consultant: Deb Tremper, Six Penny Graphics
Publication Year: 20243
Release Date: 9/7/2024
Publisher's Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Prepared by Cassidy Cataloguing Services
Genre: Nonfiction
Subjects: Literary Criticism, Biography
Audience: Adult
Page Count: 284
Format, ISBN, Price
Hardcover: 979-8986017365, $23.59
Paperback: 979-8986017341, $15.99
eBook: 979-8986017358, $9.99
Wholesale: IngramSpark
Retail: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound
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In Ezra Jack Keats at Play in the World of Children’s Books, W. Nikola-Lisa presents a detailed analysis of Keats’ work in relation to topics such as play, friendships, neighborhoods, imagination and more, in relation to both words and pictures. How I wish I’d had this book when I was conducting research on children’s read-aloud discussions using Keats’ books! While interactions between verbal and visual representations are often discussed in relation to picturebooks, Nikola-Lisa interprets the juxtaposition of the two across all picturebooks that Keats wrote/illustrated. An extensive analysis of topics, themes, and metaphors, grounded in thought-provoking theories such as creativity, “the illustrative frame as metaphor,” and “the beginner’s mind” in relation to Zen philosophy, influence unique perspectives, as well as an invaluable reader insights. I highly recommend this resource to educators and researchers interested in a variety of topics including play, childhood emotions and relationships, families, imagination, and picturebook analysis. Susan King Fullerton, Associate Professor, Emerita, Clemson University
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Keats in his studio circa 1950s
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Professor Emeritus at National-Louis University in Chicago, and a popular children’s book author and storyteller in his own right, W. Nikola-Lisa is the author of 35 books, including Ichiro and the Great Mountain, Circles, Lines, and Squiggles: Astrology for the Curious-Minded, and the Christopher award-winning How We Are Smart: A Multicultural Approach to the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Along with his creative writing, Mr. Nikola-Lisa has published numerous articles on various facets of children’s literature for the professional literature. A past recipient of an Ezra Jack Keats/Janina Domanska Research Fellowship at the University of Southern Mississippi’s de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, Mr. Nikola-Lisa explores the centrality of play in the work of acclaimed author/illustrator Ezra Jack Keats, drawing upon the author’s past research at the de Grummond Collection and recent reflections on the nature of play, creativity, and the literary imagination.
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