Book Riot: The Podcast – "The Books That Matter: THE SNOWY DAY"

A Feed Drop from the NYPL Podcast "Borrowed & Returned"
Release Date: September 24, 2025

Episode Overview

This special episode, hosted by Book Riot’s Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Schinsky, features a feed drop from the New York Public Library’s podcast "Borrowed and Returned." The focus is the iconic children’s book, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, a cornerstone of diverse representation in children’s literature. Through interviews with librarians, scholars, authors, and children’s book creators, the episode examines the historical and current impact of The Snowy Day—the first full-color picture book to center a Black child—and asks how far children’s publishing has come (and still has to go) in telling representative stories.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Cultural Significance of The Snowy Day

• [01:01] Librarians and readers of all ages share the emotional attachment and nostalgia connected to The Snowy Day.
• Lee Fox, Brooklyn librarian: "It's the sort of perfect length of a book... fun noises in the book. There's fun, like tactile types, things that happen." [01:38]
• The book’s simplicity and tactile, engaging collage artwork have made it beloved for generations.
• The Snowy Day has become New York Public Library’s most checked-out book of all time, a Caldecott Medalist, and a symbol of diverse representation.

2. Ezra Jack Keats: A Brooklyn Story

• [05:29] Keats, born Jacob Ezra Katz to Jewish immigrants, was deeply influenced by the vibrant community of East New York, Brooklyn.
• Deborah Pope, Ezra Jack Keats Foundation: "For Ezra, color was an emotional and physical sensation. It gave him incredible joy. And so his memories of his childhood, the neighborhood was full of color clotheslines and store signs and trucks and vendors." [06:00]
• Keats kept an inspirational photo of a young Black boy (from the 1940s) with him for decades—a seed for his future character, Peter.

3. A Quiet (but Radical) Revolution

• Keats chose to center a Black child at a time when virtually no children’s books featured Black or Puerto Rican protagonist children.
• 1969 Keats: "I deal with universal themes. However, I selected to use black and Puerto Rican children. At the time I did my first books was because... there were no, or almost no books where the heroes were black or Puerto Rican. And in the Snowy Day, there was a first full color picture book where the hero is black and he doesn't appear through the courtesy of other people. He's there on his own because he ought to be." [08:41]
• The hosts and contributors underline how representation shapes memories and identities for young readers.

4. History of Representation and Racism in Children’s Books

• Dr. Diane Johnson Feelings recounts racist depictions in seminal children’s books, such as the horrifying Ten Little N*****s, and the fight for positive representation.
  • "It was this white fantasy of a world without people of African descent. So black creators in the United States have been struggling against those kinds of stereotypical depictions for a very long time." [11:04]
• The importance of The Brownies' Book (1920), a landmark magazine edited by W.E.B. Du Bois, as a counterpoint and celebration of Black children.

5. Statistical Gaps & Ongoing Issues

• 2018 data: Of 3,000+ children's books, 10% featured Black characters; over 50% featured white characters; 27% featured animals/non-humans. [16:45]
  • "That's more non human characters than characters of color." [17:28]
• Systemic barriers persist due to the predominance of white publishers and editors, but the landscape improves slowly thanks to awards, advocates, and diverse creators.

6. The Power of Awards and Visibility

• The Snowy Day's popularity and the creation of awards (such as the Coretta Scott King Award and the Ezra Jack Keats Award) have been critical in bringing diverse stories to the fore.
• Deborah Pope: "Some of the leading authors and illustrators of children's books today say, I was Peter... In his acceptance speech for the National Book Award, Sherman Alexie got up and he said, first I have to thank Ezra Jack Keats, because if I hadn't read that book I wouldn't have known that I had a place in that world." [14:05]

7. Modern Successors: Diverse Joy and Reality

• Author Meg Medina, Ezra Jack Keats Award-winner, describes the importance of telling stories about ordinary joy, not just struggle, for kids of color.
  • "So often people want the story of the immigrant child, the black child, the marginalized child, to be one of suffering and... redemption... but there's also ordinary joy that is alive in all of us and that has to be captured and celebrated also." [20:46]
• Matt de la Peña, author of Last Stop on Market Street (Newbery winner), underscores the enduring value of The Snowy Day:
  • "Honestly, I think that's why the book is so enduring, is because it's not pedantic. It's not trying to teach a lesson or trying to, like, pull on our moral heartstrings. It's just a story, and the character happens to be a race that isn't represented in books." [22:10]

8. Book Bans and the Politics of Representation

• Books like Milo Imagines the World (Matt de la Peña, Christian Robinson) are now being challenged or banned, not for race, but for featuring same-sex couples—even marginally.
  • "When I found out it was that, I just felt so sad for the people that... Who are challenging it because it's just a... possibility... to me is 100% valid and even beautiful." [24:54]
• The continuing politicization of children’s literature underscores the struggle for representation and acceptance—just as in Keats’ era.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Lee Fox, on reading The Snowy Day:

  • "When you bring it out, a lot of times you'll hear like, ah... Because people feel that sort of nostalgia for it." [01:59]

• Deborah Pope (on Keats and his Brooklyn):

  • "For Ezra, color was an emotional and physical sensation. It gave him incredible joy... the neighborhood was full of color clotheslines and store signs and trucks and vendors." [06:00]

• Ezra Jack Keats (1969):

  • "In the Snowy Day, there was a first full color picture book where the hero is black and he doesn't appear through the courtesy of other people. He's there on his own because he ought to be." [08:41]

• Diane Johnson Feelings (on racist history in children’s books):

  • "Ten Little Niggers... was this white fantasy of a world without people of African descent... black creators in the US have been struggling against those kinds of stereotypical depictions for a very long time." [11:04]

• Deborah Pope (on the book’s impact):

  • "It was embraced across all ethnic and social and economic boundaries. Everybody bought it. And so publishers said, oh, there's a market here." [13:46]

• Meg Medina (on ordinary joy):

  • "There's also ordinary joy that is alive in all of us and that has to be captured and celebrated also." [20:46]

• Matt de la Peña (on why the book endures):

  • "It's not trying to teach a lesson or trying to pull on our moral heartstrings. It's just a story, and the character happens to be a race that isn't represented in books." [22:10]

• On book bans:

  • "The idea that a book could be banned for what one little boy imagines in his head, in pictures and not even words, it's pretty shocking. It just goes to show that even the suggestion of difference, even a drawing of someone living their joy, is enough to get a book pulled off the shelves. That's the world we're living in." [26:13]

• Meg Medina (on the lasting power of Peter):

  • "He made a simple, beautiful, impactful decision in who Peter was. And Peter has lasted all these years. And we look to Peter in so many ways, right as the guiding star there... All kids have this longing for joy, have ordinary days, like we need to capture that. That's worth celebrating." [26:50]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:01–03:09] Storytime and nostalgia at the library
• [03:38–04:06] The Snowy Day as a watershed moment in children’s literature
• [05:29–07:30] Ezra Jack Keats' Brooklyn roots and artistic lineage
• [08:41–09:16] Keats’ intentional choice in portraying Black children as protagonists
• [10:47–12:31] Dr. Diane Johnson Feelings on racist depictions and the historical fight for Black representation
• [13:01–13:58] Statistical reality of representation in 1960s children's publishing
• [14:05–14:32] Impact on later creators (Brian Collier, Laurence Fishburne, Sherman Alexie)
• [16:45–17:28] Current stats: representation gaps in recent children’s books
• [18:35–19:10] Role of awards and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation’s programs
• [19:15–20:32] Meg Medina’s personal story and Tia Isa Wants a Car
• [21:39–22:29] Matt de la Peña and core lessons from The Snowy Day
• [24:36–26:13] Censorship and book bans in today’s climate
• [26:50–27:44] Final reflections: Ordinary joy as revolution, legacy of Peter

Conclusion

This episode expertly blends personal stories, history, and statistics to illustrate both the enduring impact of The Snowy Day and the persistent challenges in children’s publishing. The book is celebrated not just for its milestone representation, but for centering Black childhood as ordinary, joyful, and universal. Decades after Peter’s red snowsuit made tracks in the snow, his story still calls readers, writers, and publishers to broaden the possibilities of whose lives are visible, and whose joy is celebrated, in children’s books.