The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation (EJK Foundation), in partnership with the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), today announced the 2025 Ezra Jack Keats Award winners (EJK Award) and four honor recipients. The annual EJK Award celebrates exceptional early career authors and illustrators for portraying the multicultural nature of our world in the spirit of Ezra Jack Keats. The award ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at 1 p.m. ET during the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival at USM in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
The 2025 Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award:
Breanna J. McDaniel
Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller
Illustrated by April Harrison
Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House
The 2025 Ezra Jack Keats Illustration Award:
X. Fang
We Are Definitely Human
Written by X. Fang
Tundra Books, Penguin Random House, Canada
The 2025 Ezra Jack Keats Honors:
Writer Honors
Antwan Eady
The Last Stand illustrated by Jarrett & Jerome Pumphrey
Knopf Books, Penguin Random House, Canada
Carlos Matias
Emergency Quarters illustrated by Gracey Zhang
Katherine Tegen Books, Harper Collins
Illustrator Honors
Kara Kramer
Ernö Rubik and His Magic Cube written by Kerry Aradhya
Peachtree
Bo Lu
Bao's Doll written by Bo Lu
Abrams Books for Young Readers
Deborah Pope, Executive Director of the EJK Foundation said, "This year our winner and honor books include stories about comical space aliens in need of human kindness, a little girl's drive to connect with a new culture and her mother, and the barrier-breaking educator Augusta Baker. It’s a joy to recognize new writers and illustrators who create such beautiful and entertaining books, books that reflect the childhood experiences and daydreams of our diverse population.”
Karlie Herndon, Curator of the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection and the Ezra Jack Keats Papers at the University of Southern Mississippi, said, "The 2025 EJK Award Committee has once again selected excellent picture books that are somehow both timely and timeless. Among this year's winners and honors we find stories of curiosity, kindness, and communities coming together. These books will spark creativity, empathy, and joy in young readers, and I couldn't be more excited to welcome these up-and-coming creators into the EJK legacy."
On winning the Writer Award, Breanna J. McDaniel said, “During my MA at Simmons University, I completed a project on Ezra Jack Keats and thought I knew all there was to know about him and his work. Imagine my surprise years later, while completing research, for Go Forth and Tell when I learned “my Keats” was mentored by “my Augusta Baker”! Wow! I'm immensely humbled and honored to sit at the meeting of these two giants through this award.”
On winning the Illustrator Award, X. Fang said, “I am tremendously honored to receive the EJK Award and join its remarkable legacy. My book is about being kind to strangers, who may look or act differently. It’s about small caring gestures that can reverberate throughout the galaxy. This book was made possible by the countless acts of kindness shown to me throughout my life. I wish for all young people to experience the same.”
About the Ezra Jack Keats Award
Since its inception, the EJK Award has celebrated over 110 exceptional early career authors and illustrators for portraying the multicultural nature of our world, the universal experience of childhood and the importance of family and community. Past winners include now renowned bookmakers Oge Mora, Meg Medina, Christian Robinson, Bryan Collier, and Sophie Blackall.
The Ezra Jack Keats Award is co-administered by the EJK Foundation and the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi. A distinguished selection committee of children’s literature and early childhood education specialists, librarians, authors, and illustrators review the entries and announce the winners and honorees.
About the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation
The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation has fostered children’s creativity and love of reading since 1964. The Foundation administers the EJK Bookmaking Competition, for students in grades 3-12, in the nation’s largest school system; and with the EJK Award, it encourages exceptional early career authors and illustrators to create children’s books that reflect our diverse culture. The 30-minute documentary, Tell Me Another Story, made by the EJK Foundation to bring attention to the giants who have and continue to work to address the need for inclusive children’s books, has been used in over 120 library systems and
universities across the country for training and as part of course curriculum. The EJK Foundation is proud to protect and promote the work of Ezra Jack Keats.
About the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection
The de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection is one of North America’s leading children’s literature research centers. Founded in 1966 by Dr. Lena Y. de Grummond, the Collection holds the original manuscripts and illustrations of more than 1,400 authors and illustrators, as well as over 200,000 published books dating from 1530 to the present. The collection contains the works of many notable authors and illustrators including Randolph Caldecott, John Newbery, Kate Greenaway, and H.A. and Margret Rey, as well as the papers of the young adult author John Green and the Ezra Jack Keats Papers. Researchers from across the United States and around the world visit the collection on a regular basis to study its extensive holdings.
About Ezra Jack Keats and the Impact of The Snowy Day
Ezra Jack Keats (1916-1983) is considered one of America’s greatest children’s book illustrators and authors. The first book he both wrote and illustrated was The Snowy Day which was published in 1962 and awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1963. He went on to write and illustrate over 20 now classic books including Peter’s Chair, Whistle for Willie and A Letter to Amy. Keats wanted no child to be an outsider and his books reflect his desire for a better world for all children, “If we are to invest in the future, it must be by really concerning ourselves with what goes inside our kids.”
The Snowy Day broke the color barrier in mainstream children’s publishing by being embraced across social and ethnic lines. The vivid illustrations and text, beloved by generations of readers, have earned it a place in the pantheon of great children’s literature. The Library of Congress identifies it as a book that has shaped America.