The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation has awarded New Castle County’s Department of Community Services a grant to launch a literary magazine for children.
The magazine, which will be based out of the Newark Free Library, will showcase hand-drawn art and hand-written poems, jokes, essays and short stories created by children, ages 4 – 10 years, who use the County’s Newark Library.
This magazine will provide a unique opportunity for children across a wide range of ages and backgrounds to become part of a multidisciplinary celebration of creativity.
“It is with great pride that we accept this grant,” County Executive Thomas P. Gordon said. “Ezra Jack Keats stood for diversity in children’s literature before it was mainstream. To this day, when I see his illustrations, I am moved by his great artistic talent and by his sensitivity to diversity.”
In 1962, Ezra Jack Keats became a trailblazer with the broad success of “The Snowy Day,” which featured all African American characters. The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation’s mission is to bring the multicultural and creative spirit of Keats into children’s lives and literature.
The magazine schedule is as follows:
• Begin accepting submissions, Sunday, September 27, 2015
• Create Space Workshop (in Storytime Room), Sunday, October 4, 2015 2:00-4:00 p.m.
• Create Space Workshop (in Storytime Room), Sunday, October 25, 2015 2:00-4:00 p.m.
• Create Space Workshop (in Storytime Room), Sunday, November 1, 2015 2:00-4:00 p.m.
• Submission Deadline, Sunday, November 29, 2015 4:00 p.m.
• Peek at Pages Party, Sunday, February 22, 2016 2:00 p.m.
Each child with featured work will receive a personal magazine copy at a special release party. For more information, please contact Pat Birchenall at mpbirchenall@nccde.org or 302-731-7550.
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