Keats Foundation Offers Grants

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the publication of The Snowy Day (Penguin, 1962), the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation will award $350 mini-grants totaling $40,000 to support innovative literacy programs in American public and school libraries. The deadline for applications is September 15 (application forms are available at www.ezra-jack-keats.org); the grants will be awarded in December 2002. Keats's now-classic picture book featuring Peter, a black character, broke the color barrier in mainstream children's literature when it was first published, says Deborah Pope, the foundation's executive director.