2015 Ezra Jack Keats Book Award

Writer Award

Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin, Chieri Uegaki, Kids Can Press

Inspired by her grandfather, a violinist, Hana signs up for a talent show–even though she’s a beginner. Despite her doubts and stage fright, hard work and imagination save the day!

Like her heroine, Chieri Uegaki is very persistent. The Japanese-Canadian author, who learned English as a second language, parlayed her childhood love of writing into a university degree in creative writing. Years later, she reworked a story from her school days to submit to writing contests. It caught a publisher’s eye and became her first book. Her stories feature lively girls whose independent spirit is inflected with their Japanese heritage. Chieri lives in British Columbia.

Illustrator Award

Shh! We Have a Plan, Chris Haughton, Candlewick Press

Four friends want to capture a colorful bird. They have a plan–which fails comically. They try again, and again, until the littlest friend–the one who gets shh’d–shows that his gentler way works best.

An Irish illustrator and designer now living in London, Chris Haughton comes by his desire to tell stories visually from teaching young children in Asia without a shared language. Containing few but well-chosen words, his three award-winning books have been widely translated. In Shh! We Have a Plan, Chris’s masterful use of elements like color, rhythm and slapstick humor will delight children in any language.