Happy 88th Birthday to Ezra Jack Keats!

"It is clear to me that in writing stories about Peter, Louie, Roberto, Susie and Amy, Ezra was writing about himself and all children who endure through hardship to realize their dreams and use their talent.. In fact, the schools we attended and the neighborhood in which we lived are now inhabited by the very children of whom he wrote.

"I was privileged to have his friendship over almost the entire span of his life. He was cultured, attentive, and curious; he taught me how to look at and read a painting; he kept me in stitches with the humor in his stories, and he encouraged me when I had doubts. He graced my home and enchanted my children. His work has had a profound influence on children’s literature in the twentieth century, and will be loved by children in the next century."

-- from "A Memoir of Ezra" by Dr. Martin Pope, published in Ezra Jack Keats, Artist and Picture-Book Maker by Brian Alderson