Images from the 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award Ceremony
The 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award Ceremony took place on April 4, 2019 during the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
The 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award winner for Writer is John Sullivan, for Kitten and the Night Watchman (Illustrated by Taeeun Yoo, published by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books). The Award winner for Illustrator is Oge Mora, for Thank you, Omu! (published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Honorees of the Awards include:
Writer Honor
Juana Martinez-Neal, for Alma and How She Got Her Name (illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, published by Candlewick)
Matt James, for The Funeral (illustrated by Matt James, published by Groundwood Books)
Keith Calabrese, for Lena’s Shoes are Nervous (illustrated by Juana Medina, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
Illustrator Honor
Jessica Love, for Julián is a Mermaid (written by Jessica Love, published by Candlewick)
Jane McGuinness, for Prickly Hedgehogs!(written by Jane McGuinness, published by Candlewick)
You can find the full press release on our site here.
Here are some wonderful photos from the event!
Top row, L to R: John Sullivan, the 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award winner for writer; Oge Mora, 2019 EJK Award winner for illustrator; and Ellen Ruffin, Curator of the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection and the Keats Archive; Bottom row, L to R: Jessica Love, a 2019 EJK Award Honoree for illustrator, Deborah Pope, Executive Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation; Matt James, a 2019 EJK Award Honoree for writer. Deborah Pope,Executive Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation (at podium)congratulatesthis year’s EJK Award winners and honorees, along with Ellen Ruffin, Curator of the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection and the Keats Archive. 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award winners and honorees sign copies of their books for attendees of the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival. Pictured front to back are: John Sullivan (writer winner), Oge Mora (illustrator winner); Jessica Love (illustrator honor); and Matt James (writer honor). Same image as Photo #05, but wide angle shot. Oge Mora, winner of the 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award for illustrator (left) receives her award from Sophie Blackall (right), winner of the 2003 EJK Award for illustrator for Ruby’s Wish, as well as two Caldecott Medals. John Sullivan, winner of the 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award for writer, signs copies of his book, Kitten and the Night Watchman, for attendees of the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival. The winning writer and illustrator each receive $3,000 and a bronze medallion suspended in lucite. Honorees receive a bronze medal affixed to a glass plaque as pictured in the photo.
