Ezra Jack Keats Award Winning and Honored Books
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The Ezra Jack Keats 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 Award is given annually to an outstanding new writer and new illustrator by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. A distinguished selection committee reviews the entries, seeking books that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world. Learn more about this award at Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.
Below are the Ezra Jack Keats Award Winning or Honored Books featuring Black Main Characters.
One Book Received The Ezra Jack Keats Award or Honor in 1993
Tar Beach
by Faith Ringgold, Illustrated by Faith Ringgold
- Coretta Scott King Award Winning Book 1992
- Ezra Jack Keats Award Winner/Honor 1993
- Caldecott Medal/Honor Book 1993
Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold broke new ground because the book was adapted from the textile/quilt. She incorporated African American/Native American building history and made the city seem magical with Black children flying over landmarks. Zetta Elliott, PhD
I will always remember
when the stars fell down around me
and lifted me up above
the George Washington Bridge.
Cassie Louise Lightfoot, eight years old in 1939, has a dream: to be free to go wherever she wants for the rest of her life. One night, up on tar beach the rooftop of her family s Harlem apartment building her dream comes true. The stars lift her up, and she flies over the city. She claims the buildings as her own even the union building, so her father won t have to worry anymore about not being allowed to join just because his father was not a member. As Cassie learns, anyone can fly. All you need is somewhere to go you can t get to any other way. The next thing you know, you re flying above the stars.
This magical story resonates with a universal wish. Originally written by Faith Ringgold for her story quilt of the same name, Tar Beach is a seamless weaving of fiction, autobiography, and African-American history and literature. Originally publishing in 1991 by Crown Publishers, New York.
