How The Snowy Day Changed Children’s Books

The Snowy Day wasn’t the first picture book to feature a Black child as its beloved protagonist, but it might be the most visible. When it came out in 1962, it challenged the publishing industry to champion books that depict kids of color. Today, we find ourselves in a moment not so different from the one Ezra Jack Keats was in when he sat down to create The Snowy Day. We are, once again, fighting for the right to let kids read the books they love, and we’re still reminding each other that the characters kids see in those books really matters. 

Read a transcript of this episode on our website and check out these great links:

• Check out our booklist with titles related to The Snowy Day
• Learn more about the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, the EJK Award, and the yearly bookmaking competition for kids in NYC public schools.
• Check out these digitized copies of The Brownies’ Book, books by Black creators
• Read about diversity in children’s book publishing, from “The All-White World of Children’s Books” (1965) to more recent history, like this 2018 graphic that compiles data from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center.
• Learn more about the most frequently banned children’s books in schools (PEN America) and, as always, check out our Books Unbanned initiative for ways you can help.
• Attend an in-person event with Art Spiegelman at BPL’s Central Library on September 10th.