Execution politics aren't pretty. As governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton left the campaign trail in 1992 to personally oversee the execution of a brain-damaged man, Ricky Ray Rector, and prove his tough-on-crime bona fides.
Will he ever find a way to tell the people that he wants blueberry pie? And will they make him one? This book, originally published in 1961 by Jane Thayer, the pen name of Catherine Woolly, is representative of the high quality stories that were written for young children in the 1940s, 50s, and early 60's.
But he soon observed that few children's books showcased an African-American or other minority child as the main character. Published in 1962, The Snowy Day was the first book Keats both authored and illustrated, and was a milestone for featuring the first African-American protagonist in a full-color picture book. None of the manuscripts I'd been illustrating featured any black kids--except for token blacks in the background.