Jun 13, 2016 3 min read Arts & Culture

Centennial Of ‘The Snowy Day’ Author Ezra Jack Keats Celebrated At Imagination Playground

ezra jack keats celebration — P.S. 321 and P.S. 9 students wished the late-author illustrator Ezra Jack Keats a H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R–T-H-D-A-Y in the Imagination Playground in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, where a statue of two of his beloved characters, Peter and Willie, was declared a Literary Landmark. Joining them, from L to R, Ellen Ruffin, Curator of the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, home to the Keats Archive, storyteller Tammy Hall, Deborah Pope, Executive Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, Christian Zimmerman, Chief Landscape Architect of the Prospect Park Alliance, and Otto Neals, sculptor of “Peter and Willie”. (Photo Credit: Lem Peterkin)

On a sterling Friday morning, Prospect Park’s Imagination Playground became a fulcrum of activity to celebrate the 100th birthday of beloved Brooklyn author Ezra Jack Keats.

“When I first read Ezra Jack Keats, I automatically assumed he was African American,” said storyteller Tammy Hall, addressing the enthusiastic students in attendance from P.S. 321 and P.S. 9. “But he was a man of Jewish decent with Polish roots.”

Such is the power of the work by Keats (1916-83), who is known for children’s literary classics such as The Snowy Day and Whistle for Willie. The author is well-known for his multiracial characters. “If we could see each other exactly as the other is,” he once said, “this would be a different world.”

The celebration marked the beginning of the 100th Birthday Blowout Weekend for the author, including storywalks, musical performances, and a large mural for children to decorate.

“Whistle for Willie is how my children learned how to whistle,” said Deputy Borough President Diana Reyna, who provided a citation to the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

The famous Imagination Playground statue of Peter and Willie — two of Keats’ most beloved characters — was declared a Literary Landmark. Statue sculptor Otto Neals was presented with an award of recognition from Deborah Pope, Executive Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. Neals — who was active in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s — created the sculpture in 1997 as part of the opening of Imagination Playground.

But mostly, the event was about the kids, who surrounded the Peter and Willie statue while listening to storyteller Tammy Hall read from Keats’ work. Neals — a shy and quiet artist — beamed with pride as he looked most comfortable being surrounded by the bright-eyed students on hand.

Kids took turns hugging Willy, bringing the sculpture to life as if he were a child celebrating with the others.

ezra jack keats celebratio — A student reads from the Keats’ books given away as part of the celebration. (Photo by Donny Levit / Park Slope Stoop)

And perhaps most poignant were the looks on the kids’ faces as they each received books as part of the event — given by Ellen Ruffin, Curator of the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, home to the Keats Archive.

“Which one did you get?” said one excited student to another. “Whistle For Willie! Hey, after I read this, let’s trade!”