Award of the Week: Ezra Jack Keats Book Award
Known collectively as the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award, the New Writer Award was established in 1985 and the New Illustrator Award in 2001 to recognize and encourage emerging talent in the field of children’s books. Many past winners have gone on to distinguished careers, creating books beloved by parents, children, librarians and teachers around the world.
The EJK Book Award is given annually to an outstanding new writer and new illustrator by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. An Honor Books category was added in 2012. A distinguished selection committee of early childhood education specialists, librarians, illustrators and experts in children’s literature reviews the entries, seeking books that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world. To be eligible, writers and illustrators must have had no more than three books previously published.
| Winners | |
| 2018 New Writer Award Winner | |
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Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut By: Derrick Barnes Celebrates the magnificent feeling that comes from walking out of a barber shop with newly-cut hair. |
| 2018 New Illustrator Award Winner | |
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Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters Illustrated by: Evan Turk Presents the life of blues legend Muddy Waters, describing how he persisted with his interest in music despite a lack of encouragement from his family and record producers, leading him to Chicago where he was able to record his unique country blues sound. |
| Honor Books | |
| 2018 New Writer Honor Books | |
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City Moon By: Rachael Cole As they take a nighttime walk around their neighborhood looking for the elusive moon, a little boy asks his mother simple questions about it, and she patiently answers every one. |
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Laundry Day By: Jessixa Bagley Two bored badgers have run out of things to do until their mom suggests they help with the laundry. |
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Things to Do By: Elaine Magliaro Told in rhyming text, the story takes us through a child’s day, focusing on the animals and objects around the child. |
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A Different Pond By: Bao Phi As a young boy, Bao Phi awoke early, hours before his father’s long workday began, to fish on the shores of a small pond in Minneapolis. Unlike many other anglers, Bao and his father fished for food, not recreation. Between hope-filled casts, Bao’s father told him about a different pond in their homeland of Vietnam. |
| 2018 New Illustrator Honor Books | |
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Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut Illustrated by: Gordon C. James Celebrates the magnificent feeling that comes from walking out of a barber shop with newly-cut hair. |
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The One Day House Illustrated by: Bianca Diaz A little boy promises his beloved friend, an elderly lady, that one day he will fix up her old house–and his words inspire the other people in the neighborhood to pitch in and get it done. |
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Windows Illustrated by: E.B. Goodale A boy takes his dog for a walk at dusk. In the lighted windows they pass, he can see what’s going on inside. You can learn a lot about people when looking in from outside, and from being welcomed home. |
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A Different Pond Illustrated by: Thi Bui As a young boy, Bao Phi awoke early, hours before his father’s long workday began, to fish on the shores of a small pond in Minneapolis. Unlike many other anglers, Bao and his father fished for food, not recreation. Between hope-filled casts, Bao’s father told him about a different pond in their homeland of Vietnam. |
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