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A review by quiet_chaos
Pet Show! by Ezra Jack Keats
5.0
Keats is best known for Snowy Day, but I think that just makes this one an underrated treasure. Miss 1 is obsessed with this book (and a Justice League level reader) so I've read it enough times that I'm adding it to my yearly challenge. The art work is beautiful, Archie is a problem solver, and did I mention the art work??
I think my favorite thing about this book, though, is that it features black and Latinx children and has NOTHING to do with their race. It's a wonderful book for children of color to see themselves represented in a regular life situation. This book prompted me to research Keats a little more, and this was his goal. He put children of color as the main characters in non civil rights related books, because "they should have been there all along." He did this because as an illustrator he noticed that these kids were missing or in the background. Representation matters. We'll be looking for more of his books to check out.
I think my favorite thing about this book, though, is that it features black and Latinx children and has NOTHING to do with their race. It's a wonderful book for children of color to see themselves represented in a regular life situation. This book prompted me to research Keats a little more, and this was his goal. He put children of color as the main characters in non civil rights related books, because "they should have been there all along." He did this because as an illustrator he noticed that these kids were missing or in the background. Representation matters. We'll be looking for more of his books to check out.