The Snowy Day is a 1962 children's picture book by American author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats (March 11, 1916 – May 6, 1983). It features Peter, an African American boy, who explores his neighborhood after the season’s first snowfall. Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for his collage artwork, which made The Snowy Day the first picture book with an African American protagonist to win a major children’s award.