2013 Ezra Jack Keats Book Award

Writer Award

And Then It’s Spring, Julie Fogliano, Neal Porter Books/Roaring Brook Press

After months of snow, a boy and his dog agree that enough is enough, and decide to plant a garden. They dig, plant, play and wait…and wait…until at long last, shades of green begin to replace the brown. Spring is in the air!

“I always wanted to write,” says Julie Fogliano. “I was a writing major in college, and spent some time fine-tuning the kind of writing I wanted to do. Then, being around children’s literature in different capacities, teaching kindergarten, and working in children’s publishing and in a children’s bookstore, there was no question about who I would write for.” And Then It’s Spring, beautifully illustrated by Erin E. Stead, is Julie’s first book; her second is If You Want to See a Whale, published in May 2013. She lives in Olive, New York, with her husband and three children.

Illustrator Award

Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten! Hyewon Yum, Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus Giroux

The playful use of color and size capture the emotional highs and lows of the first day of kindergarten for both mother and child.

“Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten, is based on a true story,” says Hyewon Yum. “My son was going to kindergarten, and I felt like the 5-year-old—he wasn’t afraid, but I was nervous. My son said, ‛Mom, that’s not how you are!’ He didn’t even notice how nervous I was.” Hyewon (pronounced Hay-won), who grew up in South Korea and went to graduate school in New York, wrote and illustrated three previous books: The Twins’ Blanket, There are No Scary Wolves and Last Night. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.