Amazon just shared a clip of from their upcoming holiday special, “Snowy Day,” which is based on the Caldecott medal-winning book by Ezra Jack Keats. Shadow and Act points out that Keats’ book holds an important place as “one of the first picture books to feature an African American protagonist,” part of the reason it made the Library of Congress’ list of “Books that Shaped America.”
The book had a unique look because Keats used collage, fabric, stamps, India ink, and all kinds of mixed-media in his illustrations. It’ll be really cool to see how the animation channels his original style. First published in 1962, the Christmas story follows a small boy named Peter experiencing the joy of a snowy day. In writing the story, Keats called it “an experience that turned my life around“:
… working on a book with a black kid as hero. None of the manuscripts I’d been illustrating featured any black kids—except for token blacks in the background. My book would have him there simply because he should have been there all along. Years before I had cut from a magazine a strip of photos of a little black boy. I often put them on my studio walls before I’d begun to illustrate children’s books. I just loved looking at him. This was the child who would be the hero of my book.
Lending their voices to the special are Laurence Fishburne, who’s also an executive producer, Regina King, Angela Bassett, and Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Boyz II Men also make an appearance to sing an original song titled “The Snowy Day,” which you can hear above.
You can also check out the book here. “Snowy Day” premieres on Amazon Prime Video November 25th.
(via Shadow and Act)
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