The Snowy Day

by Ezra Jack Keats 

Week 5:  Native American/African American Literature

"The Snowy Day" is the story of Peter and experience in 1962, when he wakes up and the world is covered with snow.  He puts on his red snowsuit and goes out and has little adventures in the snow.  It's a simple book, but there is something magical about being apart of Peter's day.  Student s can all relate to what's like to have a day to just go play and explore in the snow.

Ezra Jack Keats won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for "The Snowy Day" and it has been a classroom favorite every since.  Even though Ezra Jack Keats was not an African American it was important for him to have multiracial characters. His books opened the door for other books to have a African American as the lead character. 

“If we could see each other exactly as the other is,” he wrote, “this would be a different world.”]

In the classroom "The Snowy Day"can be used as a week long book study with each day covering a different reading strategy. The kids love it because they can relate the Peter's adventures in the snow.  There is also a short comprehension quiz at the end of the week.  It is perfect for a week in the month of January. I like to do a fun craft of Peter in his snowsuit.  It makes for a fun bulletin board.