2016 Ezra Jack Keats Book Award

Writer Award

Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton, Don Tate, Peachtree Publishers

Born a slave, George Moses Horton secretly taught himself to read and won acclaim as a poet. The first black writer published in the South, he paid his master for time to write and protested slavery in verse.

Like Ezra Jack Keats, Don Tate came to write his own children’s book after a high-profile career as an illustrator. The first book he authored, It Jes’ Happened, earned an EJK Book Award Honor in 2013. His books focus on African-American history, vividly revealed through indelible characters whose stories of resilience and resistance resonate for a wide audience. An Iowa native with an extensive background in publishing and design, Don lives with his family in Austin, Texas.

Illustrator Award

Sonya's Chicken, Phoebe Wahl, Tundra Books

Sonya cares for the chickens on her family’s farm, until one night, a hen disappears. Her dad explains why a fox would steal her hen, and she learns that all creatures have a role to play in the natural world.

Phoebe Wahl’s work is easy to find: She sells her printed designs on Etsy, illustrates magazine covers, and show her paintings and sculptures on her websites. She works primarily in watercolor, collage and textiles—hands-on mediums she uses to explore themes of home and nature in an imaginative, folk art-like style. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, Phoebe returned to the Pacific Northwest where she grew up, and lives in Bellingham, Washington. Sonya’s Chickens is her first book.