Eric Carle

Eric Carle (June 25, 1929 – May 23, 2021) was an American author, designer and illustrator of children's books. His picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first published in 1969, has been translated into more than 70 languages and sold more than 55 million copies. Carle illustrated over 70 children's books, most of which he also wrote. His books have sold more than 170 million copies around the world.

Early life and education Carle was born on June 25, 1929, in Syracuse, New York, to German immigrants: Johanna (née Oelschlåger) and Erich W. Carle, a former civil servant. He spent his earliest years immersed in nature and making art, and had happy memories of school—especially art class, a "sun-filled room, large sheets of paper, colourful paints and fat brushes." But when he was six years old, his mother, homesick for Germany, led the family back to Stuttgart. The following year, the Allies began the bombing of Stuttgart, a series of 53 air raids that would last four and a half years. Carle and his family spent nights in underground shelters, their house surrounded by ruins.

In 1943, students in Carle's school were evacuated to the remote Black Forest town of Schwenningen, where he was assigned to live with another family.

Career Carle began his career designing posters for events presented by Amerika Haus, a post-war cultural exchange program, and working as an art director for the fashion magazine Schwabe: Der neue schnitt. His portfolio impressed Leo Lionni, then art director of Fortune, who referred him to the promotion department of The New York Times.

In 1963, Carle went freelance, continuing to create eye-catching ads while also designing book and LP covers. In 1965 he illustrated his first book, Red-Flannel Hash and Shoo-Fly Pie: American Regional Foods and Festivals by Lila Perl, using the same linocut technique he had used at the Times. Its editor, Ann Beneduce, would become Carle's.

Carle's artwork was created by collage, using hand-painted papers that he cut and layered to form bright and colorful images. Many of Carle's books have an added dimension—die-cut pages, twinkling lights in The Very Lonely Firefly, even the sound of a cricket's song in The Very Quiet Cricket. His stories were usually drawn from nature and were inspired by the walks he would take with his father: According to the museum, it has had over one million visitors since it opened its doors in 2002.

Fine art While enjoying a prolific career in children's books, Carle continued to make what he called his "Art-Art," often using his signature hand-painted tissue papers as well as the chipboard he used as a support when painting them. In 1997, he took a self-imposed sabbatical to focus on his fine art. Carle created whimsical metal sculptures of animals, abstract collages of painted acetate and aluminum strips, and designed the set and costumes out of painted rolls of Tyvek for a 2001 staged concert of The Magic Flute at the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. His collaborations with glass artist Tom Patti led to Patti's 2002 installationTome in the café at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. In 2012, the Tacoma Art Museum exhibited a survey of Carle's art, Beyond Books: The Independent Art of Eric Carle, which included his posters, book jackets, linocuts, sculptures, murals and assemblages. The exhibition then traveled to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Carle's series of twenty "Angels," in homage to Paul Klee, made from scraps of cardboard, empty paint tubes and other found materials, was exhibited at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in 2020.

Honors and awards Carle received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities including Williams College in 2016, Amherst College in 2015, Smith College in 2014, Appalachian State University in 2013 In 1998 he received what may be the highest honor a children's author can receive—a visit from Mister Rogers.

Carle won numerous awards for his work in children's literature, including the Japan Picture Book Award, the Regina Medal, the NEA Foundation Award for Outstanding Service to Public Education In 2003, Carle received the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (now called the Children's Literature Legacy Award) which recognizes an author or illustrator whose books have made "a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." The committee cited Carle's "visual observations of the natural world" and his innovative designs: "Taking the medium of collage to a new level, Carle creates books using luminous colors and playful designs often incorporating an interactive dimension, tactile or auditory discoveries, die-cut pages, foldouts, and other innovative uses of page space."

Google paid tribute to Carle and his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by asking him to design the "Google Doodle" for its home page of March 20, 2009, celebrating the first day of spring.

In 2019, a jumping spider that mimics the appearance and movements of a caterpillar was named in Carle's honor to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and to celebrate Carle's 90th birthday.

In Nashville, the Frist Art Museum's exhibition "Eric Carle's Picture Books: Celebrating 50 Years of The Very Hungry Caterpillar" was on display from October 18, 2019 through February 23, 2020.

In November 2019, Carle sold his publishing rights to Penguin Random House.

Personal life and death

For over 30 years, Carle and his second wife, Barbara (Morrison) Carle, resided in Northampton, Massachusetts, with a winter home in Key Largo, Florida. Carle had a son and a daughter with his first wife, Dorothea Wohlenberg. His wife Barbara died in 2015 at her home in North Carolina.

Selected works

Eric Carle illustrated over 70 children's books that have collectively sold over 170 million copies.

1965 Red-Flannel Hash and Shoo-Fly Pie: American Regional Foods and Festivals (illustrator, Lila Perl writer) 1967 Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (illustrator, Bill Martin Jr. writer) 1968 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo 1969 The Very Hungry Caterpillar 1970 Pancakes, Pancakes! 1970 The Tiny Seed 1970 Tales of the Nimipoo (illustrator, Eleanor B. Heady writer) 1970 The Boastful Fisherman (illustrator) 1971 Feathered Ones and Furry (illustrator) 1971 The Scarecrow Clock (illustrator) 1971 Do You Want to Be My Friend? 1972 Rooster's Off to See the World 1972 The Secret Birthday Message 1972 Walter the Baker 1973 Do Bears Have Mothers Too? (illustrator) 1973 Have You Seen My Cat? 1973 I See a Song 1974 Why Noah Chose the Dove (illustrator, Isaac Bashevis Singer writer) 1974 All About Arthur 1975 The Hole in the Dike (illustrator) 1975 The Mixed-Up Chameleon 1977 The Grouchy Ladybug 1981 The Honeybee and the Robber 1982 Otter Nonsense (illustrator, Norton Juster writer) 1983 Chip Has Many Brothers (illustrator) 1984 The Very Busy Spider 1985 The Foolish Tortoise (illustrator) 1985 The Greedy Python (illustrator) 1985 The Mountain That Loved a Bird (illustrator) 1986 Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me 1986 All in a Day (illustrator, Mitsumasa Anno editor, with Mitsumasa Anno, Raymond Briggs, Nicolai Ye. Popov, Akiko Hayashi, Gian Calvi, Leo and Diane Dillon, Zhu Chengliang, Ron Brooks) 1987 A House for Hermit Crab 1988 The Lamb and the Butterfly (illustrator) 1988 The Rabbit and the Turtle 1989 Animals, Animals 1990 The Very Quiet Cricket 1991 Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (illustrator) 1991 Dragons, Dragons 1992 Draw Me a Star 1993 Today is Monday (illustrator) 1994 My Apron 1995 The Very Lonely Firefly 1996 Little Cloud 1997 From Head to Toe 1998 Hello, Red Fox 1999 The Very Clumsy Click Beetle 2000 Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? 2000 Dream Snow 2002 "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," Said the Sloth 2003 Where Are You Going? To See My Friend! 2003 Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? (illustrator) 2004 Mister Seahorse 2005 10 Little Rubber Ducks 2007 Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? (illustrator) 2011 The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse 2013 Friends 2015 The Nonsense Show