[1] Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his collage artwork, which made The Snowy Day the first picture book with an African American protagonist to win a major children's award.
Since its publication, The Snowy Day has sold millions of copies and has been translated, adapted, and honored, leaving a lasting impression on generations of readers.
Keats, born Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz, grew up in a poor Jewish family with immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York.
[2] Following his service in World War II, he changed his last name from Katz to Keats to avoid anti-semitism and to find work in the book publishing industry.
Next, Peter is too young to join a snowball fight with older kids, so he makes a snowman and snow angels and slides down a hill.
[citation needed] Asian art influences are seen throughout the story, giving readers a wintry theatrical backdrop across the width of two book pages.
[citation needed] The simplicity that characterizes The Snowy Day gives way to complex artwork, as Keats' toolkit grew to encompass marbled paper, acrylic and watercolor paints, inks and old photographs.
[15] Growing up in poverty in the streets of ethnically diverse New York City, Keats drew inspiration from those around him and also on his own experiences of being marginalized when forming his character Peter.
[16] By showcasing an African-American protagonist without the negative stereotypes that were prominent at the time, Keats paved the way for greater tolerance and diversity in children’s literature.
[citation needed] A 50th anniversary edition of the book was published in 2011 and featured photos of the child who inspired Peter and a letter from Langston Hughes.
[18] While some critics questioned whether or not Keats––a white Jewish man––could rightfully tell the story of an African American child, most early reviews of the book focus on its collage illustrations instead of the protagonist’s race.
[citation needed] As one article in a Baltimore Maryland-based African American newspaper said, “the illustrations are so appealing and colorful you will long remember them.”[19] Other reviews did mention Peter's race, but in a positive or neutral light.
[22] Nancy Larrick's 1965 article “The All-White World of Children’s Books” thought Peter's mother resembled a mammy stereotype.
[citation needed] Keats maintained his character was based on his own mother, and the author, who was no stranger to discrimination himself, was puzzled by the idea of assigning a race to children playing in the snow.
[31] The New York Public Library named The Snowy Day as one of its Books of the Century and included it in its exhibition on this subject which ran from May 1995 to July 1996.