Eric Carle Blog

Land of pelicans and palm trees

2012-01-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

We are back in Florida and very happy and appreciative of the quiet life we lead here. The sky is blue and the air is warm. Bobbie and I both feel very fortunate to be here in the land of pelicans and lizards, palm trees and sunshine.

Happy 2012!

2011-12-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-20T11:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,
Cheers and warm wishes for a very happy holiday season!
Peace to all,
Eric Carle

What I did in Massachusetts

2011-10-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

I spent a week in Massachusetts this fall, and enjoyed a wonderful visit and book signing at The Carle. Here I am with a young friend who waited patiently in line and presented me with his own book project.

And while in Northampton, MA I spent some time working in my old studio in the building where I created many of my books. But it wasn't a book I was working on...here's a little video if you would to see what I was up to.

Photo credit: Kristin Angel
Video credit: Rachel Hass

Carle Honors 2011

2011-10-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

The Carle Honors is a very special tradition now. It is The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art's annual celebration and award ceremony and this year's was as delightful as ever and very meaningful to the recipients of the awards, the Museum board of directors and staff, Bobbie and myself and all who care about the Museum. This year the Carle Honors were given to Michael Di Capua (Mentor), Jeanne Steig (Angel), Karen Nelson Hoyle (Bridge) and Lois Ehlert (Artist). Here's a photo taken during the award ceremony that captures the beauty of the building where the elegant event was held for the second time, Guastavino's built under the 59th Street bridge in New York City.

Next year the Museum will be 10 years old and Nancy Schön, who was a Carle Honor recipient in 2010, unveiled her beautiful bronze maquette of The Very Hungry Caterpillar which will be available for sale as part of the Museum's anniversary year. Here I am saying hello to my good friend!

Photos by Johnny Wolf Photography (c) 2011 The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse

2011-09-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I am very happy to share this video about my new book, The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse which is an homage to the Expressionist painter Franz Marc. I hope you will enjoy it!

I will be signing copies of Blue Horse at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art on Sunday, September 25 at 1:00 PM and at the following locations in New York and New Jersey:

Saturday, October 1
11 AM-12:30 PM - Books, Bytes and Beyond
197 Rock Road
Glen Rock, NJ 07452

Monday, October 3
5:30 PM - Barnes & Noble, Union Square
33 East 17th Street
NY, NY 10003

Hope to see you at one of these events if you are in the area.
Best wishes,
Eric Carle

The last few lazy days of Summer

2011-09-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Kaisei-sha exhibition at Fukuoka Asia Museum

2011-08-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

These photos are of an exhibit currently on at the Fukuoka Asia Museum in Japan. Many thanks to my Japanese publisher Kaisei-sha for all that they did to make this show possible. I am delighted by the wall murals and the scale of the art work. I hope you will enjoy these as much as I do!

Remembering Tock

2011-08-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

I was recently given these photos of our beloved Tock, the white Samoyed (on left in above photo) who was our dog a long time ago. Tock was a very special dog and she had a good dog friend named Fluffy, (also in these photos) who belonged to our neighbor when we lived in the beautiful hills of western Massachusetts.

These photos bring back many happy memories of our days with Tock who is incidentally named after the dog in The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (Norton is a friend of ours).

This is a tissue paper collage of Tock that I made for Bobbie. We both loved Tock and remember her with great fondness.

Massachusetts in July

2011-07-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

It was a busy and exciting time in western Massachusetts where we spent the past 10 days visiting with friends and making my annual appearance at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for a book signing. More than 400 people came from all over the U.S. and the world including visitors from Kenya, Japan, Costa Rica, Kansas, Florida, France and Korea. It was a great day saying hello and signing books.

Bobbie and I were also delighted to be at the Museum the night before the signing event, to remember Leo Lionni and to celebrate the unveiling of his beautiful sculpture which is now on view in the Museum's great hall. You must come and see it!

Photo credit: Kristin Angel

Friendship

2011-07-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

Do You Want to Be My Friend? which was published forty years ago in 1971 is my favorite book. It has only eight words. But it's not a simple book. It's a guessing game: what animal is attached to each tail? And a mystery: why is there a green border on the bottom of every page? And it is a story about friendship. Friendship is very important to children, adults sometimes forget that.

When I was six years old my parents and I moved from Syracuse NY, where I was born, to Germany. Almost daily, I would ask them "When are we going home?"

Soon after our move to Germany, I received a letter from my friend Carlton Mayer in Syracuse. "Dear Eric," he wrote. "I would licke to see you so bad wen are you koming back again?" Twenty years later, I arrived at his doorstep and he recognized me. "You're Eric!" he said. I still have his precious letter and in my heart Do You Want to Be My Friend? is for Carlton.

Posters

2011-06-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

These are posters I designed before I started to illustrate picture books.

My first job when I was 20 years old was at the Amerika Haus U.S. Information Center in Germany where I worked as a poster designer.

I am still very proud of these and often think of my book covers (and inside pages) as little posters. I hope you will enjoy them!

Meeting Tomi Ungerer

2011-06-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

Bobbie and I spent this past weekend in Massachusetts where we thoroughly enjoyed meeting Tomi Ungerer and his lovely family. An exhibit of Tomi's work, Tomi Ungerer, Chronicler of the Absurd is currently on view at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

This weekend was the first time Tomi and I met in person, although we both came to New York in the early 1950's where with just a few dollars in our pockets we planned to begin our careers. Tomi started to work in children's picture book illustration soon after he arrived, and I worked in the field of graphic design for a number of years before I began making picture books. It was a great honor to meet and I am very happy to have Tomi's work on exhibit during this year of his 80th birthday. I hope you will come and see the show!

You can preview Tomi's exhibit here.

A story and a star

2011-06-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

My mother's mother, my maternal grandmother, used to tell me stories, as I have mentioned in earlier blog posts. She also taught me how to draw an 8-pointed star. As she scribbled a star on a scrap of paper, she would say this poem, in German:

Kri Kra Kroten-Fuss, Gänse Laufen Bar-Fuss

The translation is as follows:

Kri Kra Toad's Foot, Geese Walk Bare-foot

I think this nonsense poem was based on German folklore. It's a totally unknown story that I've never come across anywhere else. Most likely my grandmother remembered it from her own childhood. But this was how I learned to make a star. And out of this memory of my grandmother's story, of her showing me how to draw a star, along with a dream I had about a falling star, came my book, Draw Me A Star!

Now you too can try to draw an 8-pointed star. See if you can do it without lifting your pen from the paper!

Looking forward to July 16, 2011

2011-05-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

I can't wait for my annual book signing at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art on July 16, 2011. Hope to see you there!

All Around the World

2011-05-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

I am delighted that my books are enjoyed in different countries and are being read in so many different languages. The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been translated into more than 50 languages! I think that part of the reason it appeals to so many people is because of its hopeful message. Here are a few book covers in a variety of languages from around the world including Greek, Urdu, Arabic, Thai, Chinese, Italian and Russian. Many thanks to all of my foreign publishers for printing my book in your beautiful languages and to readers everywhere!

Happy Spring and Summer to All!

2011-05-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

On the boardwalk

2011-04-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,
It has been a lovely winter in Florida. A good quiet stretch of time by the ocean and just the kind of time the hermit part of me enjoys. But like many creatures, we are thinking about the next season and our migration back to North Carolina. I love this place on the boardwalk that leads from our home to the water. It is one of my favorite places to walk and sit, take in the ocean and the light and the sky.

A Rug Design

2011-04-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of a rug based on the design I created for the end sheets for my book Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? (written by my friend, Bill Martin Jr). It is in my home and I enjoy its colorful design on a daily basis. I am very pleased with how this small image was blown up to a large scale faithfully. The rug is a wool and silk hand-hooked rug and was made by Tibetan artisans. Perhaps one day I will become a rug designer!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Day!

2011-03-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

I am delighted and honored to tell you that March 20th this year is the 3rd annual Very Hungry Caterpillar Day! To celebrate, events and programs are being planned around the country in schools, libraries and bookstores.

In March and April, The Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia will be performing their wonderful black light puppetry productions based on my stories in various theaters around the U.S.

Also, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is holding a day of activities including a visit from the caterpillar himself!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar will also be making appearances at additional boosktores and other locations. You can find out more at the Penguin USA web site

Thank you everyone for celebrating this day!

REJECTS

2011-03-03T11:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes children will write to me and ask if I ever make mistakes when I’m creating illustrations. There are no mistakes, I explain. It is all useful in some way; all a part of the creative process. However, it is true that some pictures don’t belong in a book, for one reason or another. Somebody else might not think so. But for me, it’s a very personal decision and I have high standards for my own work.

Here is an example of alternative art for my book Animals, Animals. The first pelican I created for this book had a dark, brown background.

Many of the pictures that I create for a book, I would say almost a third, don’t make it into the actual book. But this doesn’t mean that the individual pieces are uninteresting or unsuccessful. What matters the most to me is the unity of effect in the entire book; how all of the pictures work together to create a whole feel or flow that is consistent throughout. But even the work I choose not to include is interesting to me and I keep it for archival purposes.

The final art work as you can see, has a much lighter, green background and white space, which you might notice is consistent with many of the pictures in this book.

Think BIG

2011-02-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

When I was starting out doing freelance work in the late 1960's, after my stint as an ad executive, and before I had started to make books for children, I created this brochure to promote my work. It is a folded brochure and on the cover is a tiny ladybug who is saying: "THINK SMALL". Inside there is the image of a very large whale who is saying: "think big". The brochure did get some attention from publishers. It was a project I enjoyed working on and feel it is not unrelated to the books I would soon start to create.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T07:37:00.001-08:00

Tomie & Me

2011-01-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

You might like to read this conversation between myself and fellow picture book artist and author Tomie DePaola!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Have a wonderful, colorful and happy holiday season
and all the best wishes for 2011!

Peace to all,
Eric Carle

"One Book, One Osaka"

2010-12-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

I am delighted to share that The Very Hungry Caterpillar was chosen in Osaka, Japan as the best children's book by an organization called "One Book, One Osaka." Our long-time publisher in Japan sent us photos from an event last month at a library in Osaka where more than 1300 people came to a reading of a VERY large edition of the book. I am honored to have my book selected and have very fond memories of my visits to Japan. Thank you friends in Osaka!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T07:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to The Carle

2010-11-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

This week, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art turns 8 years old. But the seed or idea for the museum was planted when Bobbie and I traveled to Japan many years ago. We were inspired by our visit to this beautiful country and in particular by the Chihiro Art Museum, where the work of children's book artist Iwasaki Chihiro resides.

Now, all these years later, we are amazed to be marking The Carle's 8th birthday. From a tiny seed, so much has grown. There are many people who have supported The Carle since its early days and people who make it all happen day in and day out, the museum's wonderful directors and staff. To all of you, we are very grateful and very proud.

Society of Illustrators

2010-10-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

I was very honored to receive a 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators, an award that was also given this year to Alice and Martin Provensen. Alice was a recipient of a Carle Honors Award in 2009. I was delighted to attend the ceremony in New York last week and to see the 30th Annual Exhibition of Original Illustration. And to have a chance to meet some of the award winners at the event.

My editors Ann Beneduce and Pat Gauch were there with me, which made the night even more special.

Here is Anelle Miller, director of the Society of Illustrators introducing me. I hope you will enjoy these photos!

Carle Honors 2010

2010-10-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

Last month, the 5th Annual Carle Honors, the Gala for The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, was held in an inspiring space built underneath the bridge on East 59th Street in New York City. It was an elegant evening, attended by many dear friends and colleagues.

I was delighted to greet the honorees and celebrate with them. This year the Museum recognized the sculptor Nancy Schön (in the photo with me above) who created the well-known bronze Make Way for Ducklings sculptures in Boston, author and illustrator David Macaulay creator of The Way Things Work, the collectors Allan and Kendra Daniel who have been great supporters and contributors to the Museum and Stephen Mooser and Lin Oliver cofounders of the Society for Children's Book Writers & Illustrators.

It was a wonderful evening and I was very grateful to all the artists who contributed their beautiful work for the auction.
I hope you will enjoy the photos I've included from the Carle Honors in the gorgeous Guastavino's space under the bridge.

The caterpillar's tomato

2010-10-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

The season's last tomato that I grew here in North Carolina.
I sacrificed this one for the caterpillar who seemed so happy to have it. Does anyone know what kind of caterpillar this is?

A Day in My Life

2010-09-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,
Here is a glimpse of a recent day at home in North Carolina. I spent my morning in the kitchen. My ingredients list included: eggs, flour, butter, milk and oranges (I like to make fresh squeezed juice).

Here I am settling down to enjoy my breakfast!

Later I worked in my studio where my ingredients list included: paintbrushes, tubes of colorful paint, papers and pencils

The sun was out and the room was bright.
Sweet fruit juice, a plate of pancakes and time to work.
No complaints.

My Books and All Kinds of Learners

2010-09-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

Many teachers who work with children who are autistic or children who have learning disabilities write to me and tell me that my books are helpful in their classrooms. I’m not an expert in the field of education but I am very pleased that I do reach all kinds of learners.

I started school in the US and had a wonderful experience. But when my family moved back to Germany it was a different story. There was a strict, mean teacher and I began to hate school and hating school prevented me from learning. Back then it wasn’t recognized whether you were learning disabled but I’m sure I was.

I try in each of my books to include learning and entertainment and I aim to let readers into my world, my life experiences. The learning part I always camouflauge. It’s just one aspect; one dimension of the book.

I feel strongly that each child is an individual; each child is different. I don’t even like to use the word children. I prefer to say, a child and a child and a child. I think I make my books for a child, and that child is me, the child in me.

My annual signing at The Carle

2010-08-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was in Amherst, MA for my annual book signing at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, now known as The Carle. It was a wonderful day and I was delighted to sign books for the visitors who came and waited so patiently in line.

People from all over including visitors from VA, CA, NY and even Iceland were at the Museum and I enjoyed meeting the teachers and children, grandparents and parents who arrived at the table where I sat with my pen.
Here I am taking a break and eating a healthy snack.

Bobbie and I are so happy to have had this time to come back to Massachusetts and visit with old friends here and the staff at the Museum who handled a busy day beautifully. There was ice cream and other treats in the apple orchard after the signing and I hope all who came enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

Photo credit: Kristin Angel

Sweets

2010-08-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

I love honey and have since I was a child in Germany. And another treat that I love is chocolate. Maybe it goes back to my childhood as well when an aunt of mine worked in a chocolate factory. She was my favorite aunt of course because she could bring home left over pieces so whenever I visited her I would be given a bag of broken chocolate.

Old Friends

2010-07-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

I created illustrations for these books in the 1960's before I had started making books for children. These “gift” books were done as work-for-hire and in linoleum cuts. I still appreciate these older works for their simple design.

Reading the Funny Papers

2010-07-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

On Sunday mornings, when I was a child, my father would read the funny papers to me. It was a ritual for us. I would sit on his lap and he would read me the comics. It was fun, entertaining. But also, he would add a little learning into our Sunday mornings. He pointed out one cartoonist in particular who only did side views or front views, no perspective. My mother would call in from the kitchen to him that I was too young to understand what he was saying. But my father would just keep talking, enjoying our Sunday time together, reading the comics, building in a little education.

Summer

2010-07-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Under the spell of Lisbeth Zwerger

2010-06-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

Many years back, I happened upon one of Lisbeth Zwerger's books for the first time. I knew I was looking at the work of a soulful and unconventional artist and I stood in the bookstore turning the pages of the book in my hands. When I closed the book I had fallen under the spell of one of the finest illustrators of our time, and I experience this each time I open a book by Lisbeth Zwerger. It is a great pleasure and honor that Lisbeth Zwerger's work will be exhibited at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art this summer, starting on June 29th!

Illustration from THE STRANGE CHILD © 1981 by Lisbeth Zwerger

Brown Bear Tells a Story

2010-06-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was first published in 1967 and has been reissued numerous times particularly in its early years.

Bill Martin Jr would decide to change the text and I would create new illustrations to go along with Bill’s changes. As of today, there are four complete sets of artwork for Brown Bear, Brown Bear. The changes in the text of the book were made mostly on the last page where there is either a teacher or a mother (or a monkey in a UK edition from 1984).

Originally created for the educational market to be sold to schools and libraries only, Brown Bear was later published as a trade book to be sold in bookstores. For the most part, I was creating new art work to match the changes Bill was making. But the changes in the art work tell an interesting story as well.

In the earlier editions of this book, I was using commercially available tissue papers in various shades of color. I would use crayon and paint to add texture, but over time these papers faded and the rubber cement I was using discolored the papers and did not last as an adhesive.

Eventually, I started painting my own papers to achieve even greater texture and I began using archival quality materials. You can see these changes in the art work from these selected illustrations from Brown Bear where a history of how my style has evolved is evident.

It is also true that I created new art work for numerous other titles because the original work had faded and needed to be recreated for reprints of the books. Fortunately, using archival materials made for more long-lasting art work that we hope will last for years to come.

A Bird's View

2010-06-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Bobbie and I have made our move to the mountains of North Carolina where we will spend the summer months. We'll be enjoying the climate in NC, the good company of friends and family who live nearby, and the view from our home of the expanse of undulating mountains. At times, it feels like the view from an airplane from where we sit in our house. Or a bird's perspective.

I am also looking forward to our return to Massachusetts for a visit later in the summer and my annual book signing engagement on August 14, 2010 at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I'll also be giving a lecture at the Museum the night before the book signing. I hope to see you!

A Pretzel Story

2010-05-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

I recently read an article about pretzels in the New York Times that mentions a number of bakeries in New York City where one can buy fresh baked soft pretzels and a wonderful bakery in Northampton, MA called Bakery Normand. I have been a fan of good bread for a long time and I often enjoyed Normand's pretzel rolls among other treats in their shop when I lived in the small city in western Massachusetts. I like all kinds of breads and pastries and have baked some of my own in the past. I even wrote a book about a baker.

The NYT pretzel piece described the style of pretzels that come from the Baden-Württemberg region in Germany where I grew up in this way: "the pretzels are known for their fat 'bellies' and skinny, intertwined arms." My pretzel story, which also includes a little pretzel history, is called Walter the Baker. The story is based on the tale of how the pretzel was invented, which was told to me by my Grandmother when I was a boy. But I truly had an uncle named Walter who was a baker and who baked, along with all kinds of bread, cookies, cakes and rolls; pretzels!

Creative Crisis

2010-05-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

Writer's block or any kind of "creative crisis" is part of being creative; it will never disappear. I have suffered from this "creative crisis" many times, and this is what I do.

I always start working on a book with my best intentions, but then, sometimes I encounter unsurmountable mental resistance. Early in my career I despaired when this occurred, but later on I discovered how to overcome this anguish.

The first step is simply to give in. I’d tell myself that, "Yes, it is true that I am not talented, that I cannot do it, that my brain has died and my sense of color is off."

After sleepless nights, and days of raving against my destiny, I may call my editor and tell her that I have “lost it” and will never do a book again. I surrender to my fate. And that is exactly the point where recovery happens and creativity starts to flow again!

The Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg

2010-05-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

This spring, I was very honored to learn that I was one of 23 recipients to be awarded the Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. On May 8, my sister Christa accepted this award on my behalf from the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg which is the state in Germany where I lived as a child in the city of Stuttgart. The ceremony was held at the beautiful Ludwigsburg Schloss (castle) in a suite at the castle called "Order Saal", which means literally "Medal suite".

Here is Christa at the award ceremony earlier this month. The award is the highest medal for outstanding services in "political, social, cultural and economic fields" from the minister of the state of Wuerttemberg. I was truly humbled to receive this award and I would have very much liked to have been there in person. I am delighted by these photos.

A few days in Cambridge

2010-04-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Last week Bobbie and I spent a few days in Cambridge MA where I was invited to speak at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It was an honor to be invited by such a prestigious institution and the whole event was a delight. I spoke about my life and work and gave a slide show presentation.

The title of my talk was The Education of a Good Picture Writer. Afterward, there was a Q&A and students and teachers and children spoke and I tried to answer their questions. Then I signed books and enjoyed meeting some of the students and people who attended the talk. A few teachers brought beautiful collage art work their students had made. It was a lovely spring weekend in Cambridge, the trees were blooming and we had a chance to visit with friends and enjoy the season. Now we are back in Florida enjoying the quiet rhythm of our life at home.

Some of my friends

2010-04-14T08:34:00.001-07:00

Here are some of my friends who recently came to visit. The egret is sitting on our fence; the pelican is resting on our dock.

And Whitey, a stray cat who has been paying us regular visits for some time now.

Red-flannel hash and shoo-fly pie

2010-03-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

These are some of the illustrations I created before I started making my own picture books using tissue paper collage. An early assignment from my editor Ann Beneduce was to illustrate a cookbook, Red-flannel hash and shoo-fly pie. I was so eager to please that I came in with many more linoleum cut illustrations than she needed. But she liked them. And so began our long term relationship as editor and illustrator, writer and friend. I hope you will enjoy these linocuts. Linocuts are similar to woodcuts but are made with linoleum blocks rather than wood blocks. You might also be interested in visiting
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art during the exhibit of the artrist Antonio Frasconi's woodcuts.

Mozart

2010-03-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

I love to listen to Mozart, one of my favorite composers, while painting tissue papers in my studio. Sometimes I turn the music up so loud so that it surrounds me.

A number of years ago, I created scenery and costumes for a semi-staged production of The Magic Flute by The Springfield Symphony Orchestra. It was a very exciting project to be involved in and one of the most memorable things I have ever done. I painted panels of Tyvek (the material that houses are wrapped in during construction) on the floor of my studio.

There is a little video of me painting tyvek for a mural project on my web site.

In The Magic Flute production, long banners of various lengths and shapes were hung above the stage and unfurled like huge bolts of color during the performance. All of the costumes for this production were made from painted Tyvek as well!

The Very Busy Spider Turns 25!

2010-03-19T08:12:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday my very hard-working friend.

Despite the many diversions in life, we must do our work!

The spider in my book is busy spinning her web so she can catch the fly, which in the end she does. You may have noticed when you touch the pages of this book, that the spider, web and fly are raised. This is a design feature that is meant to draw your attention to the spider and her task at hand. I am still pleased by this quiet and word-less recognition of all of her efforts.

Migration

2010-02-25T10:26:00.000-08:00

Bobbie and I have recently migrated south. We are enjoying the warmth and sun in Florida (even though it hasn't been as warm as previous years) and our life near the ocean. The view of the water, watching the birds and creatures who live here, time in my studio. It is good to be back and to feel relaxed in the way we have come to associate with our Florida home.

Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day!

2010-02-18T07:11:00.001-08:00

Doodle 4 Google

2010-02-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Last year, I was invited to create a doodle for the Google homepage. What a thrill to see my very own Google Doodle on March 20th, the day selected to mark the 40th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This year, Google is launching the Third Annual Doodle 4 Google competition, open to all K-12 students in the U.S. to create their own Google Doodle inspired by the theme "If I Could Do Anything, I Would..."

I am delighted to be one of the 10 Expert Jurors for the 2010 Doodle 4 Google competition. For more information on how you or your school can participate, please visit:

www.google.com/doodle4google/

I hope to see your creation among the entries!

Eric Carle

Christa's Birthday

2010-02-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

Here I am with my sister Christa who turned 60 in January, 2010.

I was already a young man when she was born (we are more than 20 years apart in age) but I always wanted a sibling and was so happy when she was born.

Christa lives in Germany with her husband and has two grown daughters of her own now. I dedicated my book The Very Hungry Caterpillar to my sister and have been thinking of her during this time of celebration.
Happy Birthday Christa!

Happy 2010!

2009-12-30T07:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas Memories

2009-12-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

From my childhood in Germany, I remember the ADVENT KALENDER. From December 1 to Christmas Eve day each number on the calendar had a little door (paper flap) and each day you would open one of the doors to a picture of the season: snowfall, Christmas ornaments, Angels, Stars, Candles, Cookies and so forth.

On Christmas Eve, we all (kids, parents, grandparents, uncles & aunts) gathered ‘round the WEIHNACHTSBAUM (Christmas Tree), exchanged gifts, wished each other happiness and sang LIEDER (songs) such as OH TANNENBAUM or HEILIGENACHT (Holy Night). One of my grandfathers played the mouth harmonica for background music. I can still smell it just thinking about it: apples and chestnuts roasting on the stove.

Peace to all,
Eric Carle

Dream Snow

2009-12-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

I created my book Dream Snow after a two year “sabbatical” from making picture books. During this time away, I created abstract art out of my painted tissue papers. I also used other materials such as silk fabric, plate glass, aluminum foil, and plastic sheathing. When I started making books again, I created Dream Snow, the story of a farmer and his animals, and a celebration of Christmas. You might have noticed that instead of a white background the animals in this book are set in front of bright colorful swatches of painted tissue papers as background.

This was a change from my previous way of working. My time away making abstract art was influencing my book art.

I had always been reluctant about making a Christmas book, but when the idea for my book Dream Snow came to me it seemed impossible to resist.

Sitting Down to Eat

2009-11-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

I have often fantasized about being a chef.

I think it would be fun to wear a white apron and a chef's hat and cook up a delicious meal!

When I was a boy, we lived in Germany with my mother's parents and on some Sundays we would go to visit my father's parents. They lived about a mile away at the most and I remember they were very nice grandparents. My grandmother was a very good cook. There were always things cooking on the stove to test. In the back of the house was a big yard with a garden, apple trees, chickens, rabbits.

My grandmother always had a gift for me. An egg from her chickens, a jar of raspberry jam. She would tell me, "Here, Eric. Have an egg. Give it to your mother to make a pancake for you."

She was very warm and she cooked a lot. I would go there and she would say: "Sit down. Eat."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Colors and Words

2009-11-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

“We are alike in the same ways,” a child once wrote to me. “I like colors and you like colors, I like words and you like words.”

Breaking the Record

2009-11-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I am very happy to share that the Read for the Record campaign on October 8, 2009 was a huge success and more than 2 million children participated - more than twice what Jumpstart had hoped! While most of the events were held in the United States with events in Iowa, California, Alabama and Virginia among other states, we did hear from our publisher in Taiwan that more than 4000 children participated in libraries and children's centers in 18 different cities or counties there.
I am proud to have been a part of this program.
Congratulations Jumpstart for breaking the record and to everyone who participated!

Mister Rogers

2009-10-27T12:22:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking about Fred Rogers these days. A number of years ago, he came to my studio and filmed a segment of an episode of Mister Rogers Neighborhood. It was an honor to work with him and to appear on his TV show. The way he spoke to children was so calm and kind and respectful. I am so glad that his work is being made available now on the PBS web site and am delighted that an excerpt of us reading my book From Head to Toe together is included as one of the site's 40 video clips. I hope you will enjoy watching!

On Thursday, November 5, Fred Rogers will be remembered and honored at the dedication and unveiling of the "Tribute to Children" statue in Pittsburgh, the city where he lived and worked. For more information, please visit
Family Communications web site

I will always remember Fred with great fondness and admiration.

Carle Honors 2009

2009-10-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

I was in New York last month to celebrate the Carle Honors, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art's annual gala and auction. Each year, The Carle Honors recognizes the contributions of four people in the field of children's books and this year they were an inspiring group: illustrator Alice Provensen who at 91 travelled from California for the occasion, Kyle Zimmer who started the organization First Book which has donated more than 65 million books to children, editor Walter Lorraine who worked with David Macaulay, Chris Van Allsburg, Lois Lowry and Allen Say among others. And the founders of Cricket Magazine, Marianne and Blouke Carus who created a publication where many illustrators' careers began. It was an exciting evening with many hellos and hugs with old friends and colleagues who I don't see as regularly as I used to, remembering old times we've shared. There were so many friends from the world of children's books all together on a warm evening on a beautiful terrace in New York. The speeches were moving, the food delicious and the dessert, quite amazing, as you can see!

photo credit:Kate Gray

Celebrating Jumpstart in New York City

2009-10-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

It has been an amazing few days celebrating Jumpstart's Read for the Record campaign and I am honored to have been a part of this program. There have been readings in schools and libraries around the country, as well as in other countries including China and Australia!

It was a whirlwind time in New York with the Today Show on Thursday morning with Mary Louise Parker, Vince Vaughn, Stephanie March, Justin Bieber, Jennifer Stone, Madison Pettis and other celebrities who read
The Very Hungry Caterpillar to children on the plaza as well as a celebration for Jumpstart at the New York Public Library.

And I attended the lighting ceremony at the top of The Empire State Building which was orange and white in honor of Jumpstart's orange logo!

The day before, I visited the New York Stock Exchange where I had been invited with others from Jumpstart to ring the closing bell.

It was a very exciting and festive time. I am so impressed by the tremendous work of the staff and volunteers at Jumpstart who together made this program so successful. It is wonderful that so many people were reading together.

Read for the Record

2009-09-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that my book The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the official book in Jumpstart's Read for the Record campaign this year. The goal of this program is to set a Guinness World Record for the number of people reading the same book on the same day to children around the world and to shine the spotlight on the importance of early literacy. On October 8th, all around the world, more than one million people are expected to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to children. I will be appearing on the Today Show in New York to help celebrate. Hopefully a record will be set, bigger than ever before!

Here is video you might like to watch about this wonderful program

Sign up at Jumpstart's web site to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and be a part of this year's Read for the Record.

I've been busy painting new tissue papers

2009-09-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

I've been having fun in my studio!

The Seed that Grows into a Story

2009-09-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes ideas for my books seem to burst into bloom. But often the seed of the idea had been planted much earlier; had been growing quietly inside me for years. An example of this, the seed or idea for my book From Head to Toe, was planted all the way back when I was in high school. I had a strong aversion to physical exercise and sports and felt pressured by the competitive nature of physical education. As a result, I often skipped gym class.

Years later, as an adult, I suffered from back pain (while I enjoyed walking and gardening I spent a lot of time at my desk in my studio and all of the sitting I was doing started to catch up with me). I went to see a massage therapist who gave me exercises which I did every day. These stretches had wonderful names: "Angry cat" was one of them and "old horse" was another. As I did these exercises the feelings from years before, of not enjoying gym class - of feeling like an outsider at school when it came to sports - came to the surface. The seed for the story started to grow and with the names of the exercises dancing in my imagination, the idea for From Head to Toe began to take hold. A young child once told me, "Ideas come from both your inside and your outside." I have found this to be true for me. The inside event (the feelings I had as a school boy who didn't like gym class), and the outside event (doing the exercises given to me by my massage therapist) somehow mingled together to make a book.

My weekend in Massachusetts

2009-08-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I have just returned from a short trip to western Massachusetts. It was a very full and busy few days. I was happy to be in my old studio again, to see all my books and papers stored there. I even made a few small pieces of abstract art, in between the excitement of scheduled events.

I attended the beautiful wedding of the daughter of dear friends, which was held at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Here I am with the bride and groom and a young friend.

The next day, I went back to the Museum for the book signing, which was attended by more than 500 visitors and museum members some of whom traveled quite a distance to be there. It was great to be at the Museum again (I am impressed by the main hall every time I walk inside), to see old and new friends and to be welcomed by such a kind and patient crowd.

Here I am signing books:

And here I am after the signing with Stacy Gabrielle from Crayola, and Alix Kennedy, Director of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I was very honored to receive a giant Crayola crayon in my new favorite color: "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" green. The only other special crayon color of this kind that Crayola has created was for Oprah! And it was the color purple!

And this is me in The Very Hungry Caterpillar seat that was sent to the Museum by my German publisher Gerstenberg Verlag:

It was a very memorable time, truly a pleasure, and I am glad to be home again with Bobbie surrounded by the hills of North Carolina.

Eric Carle

Cats and Dogs

2009-08-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

Animals are a constant source of comfort and fascination, the ones in the wild and the ones we live with in our home. I love all kinds of animals but I am especially fond of cats. There are cats and dogs in many of my books. When I lived on my own in New York City, I had two cats named Fifi (black, long-haired) and Mitzi (a tiger cat), who I wrote about in my book Flora and Tiger. My wife, Bobbie and I had a lovely cat named Annie (grey, long-haired) for many years. You may have also noticed a white dog in my stories. Our beloved Tock, a white Samoyed, was the inspiration. (By the way, Tock was named for the dog in the book, The Phantom Tollbooth, written by my friend Norton Juster.)

We do not have a pet right now, but when in Florida we are visited regularly by a stray cat, named by the neighbors - Whitey - who we very much enjoyed seeing each day.

Dreams and Realities

2009-08-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes dreams become real tangible things, like books or buildings.

A dream: It is night time. In the distance, between the hills, some stars fall from the sky. They come closer and closer. Finally a star hits me. It does not hurt. Just the opposite. The star takes me by the hand and together we float toward the heavens.

A reality: Later, I created my book "Draw Me A Star" based on this dream.

Another dream that became a reality:

In 1992 my wife and I were invited to Japan by my Japanese publisher in Tokyo. This visit deeply impressed us. Shrines, museums, Kabuki theater and incredible sushi. And we were introduced to a Picture Book Museum. Chihiro Iwasaki (1918-1974) was a leading and beloved picture book artist. She left her work to her son Takeshi Matsumoto. "Is it possible to see Chihiro’s pictures?” Neighbors asked. Takeshi hung his mother's pictures on the wall of his living room. That was the beginning. Then he attached a small museum to the house. Years later, he built a 20,000 square foot stunning museum in Azumino, two hours from Tokyo.

And that was the beginning of our dream, still unconscious, like a seed whose roots invisibly took hold in the soil. In 1995, we seriously and with great enthusiasm began our plans. Seven years later the doors opened to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Seven years just like in fairy tales. This sounds almost euphoric. But we had many doubts and sleepless nights. Are we on the right path? We are without experience. The scale of the undertaking at times seemed overwhelming. But in the end we said yes. And so our dream became a reality.

I am thinking about our dream these days, as I plan my trip to the Museum later this month.

Book signing

2009-07-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I will be traveling to Massachusetts next month and visiting with friends and family. And on Sunday, August 23rd at Noon, I will be making my annual appearance at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art to sign books and say hello to visitors.

For more information about this event as well as many other happenings at the Museum, including an exhibition that has recently opened of my friend Tomie dePaola's work, please visit the Museum's web site.

I hope you will join us!
Eric Carle

End Sheets

2009-07-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

The colorful patterns on the inside covers of my books are called end sheets or end papers. An end sheet is like a theatre curtain in that it appears at the beginning, before the play starts, and at the end, after the play has finished. I pay great attention to the design of my end sheets; they often reflect something about the book and set the tone for the story.

I am especially fond of the end papers in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, pieces of colorful paper with holes in them, because they remind me of how the book started: from punching holes with a hole puncher.

For me, designing the end sheets for each book is part of the challenge and the pleasure of creating a book.

Here are some examples:

From Head to Toe

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me

1,2,3 to the Zoo

Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?

Farm Summer

2009-07-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

In the second year of the Second World War — I had just turned 12, my maternal grandmother remembered from her youth a farm girl she had known. Off went a postcard: could Eric spend the summer vacation with her? Yes, came the reply. A small suitcase was packed. I traveled 4 hours by train and walked another 2 to a tiny village consisting of perhaps 8 farms. Maria, my grandmother’s friend, was an elderly unmarried woman living with her 90 year old widowed father, whom I called Grandfather.

Their living quarters, barn and stables were all in the same building, under one roof. They owned 3 cows, 2 pigs, a dozen chickens with a proud rooster and several bee hives in the abutting garden. In the garden grew all their vegetables and fruit that they needed.

There was no indoor plumbing. There was a water pump inside the kitchen. No hot water, no bathtub, no water closet, no cars, no refrigerator. I had a guest bed in the old man’s room. I still remember him snoring dreadfully and getting up in the middle of the night to use the chamber pot that would be emptied in the morning.

Maria worked until midnight baking bread, darning socks, washing and cleaning and then getting up at 4 in the morning to take her old bicycle and pedaling to the nearby forest to pick mushrooms or berries. Not for us, these were washed and carefully packed and delivered by her on the bicycle to the nearest city to be sold to the “rich city folk”.

My summer vacation with Maria and Grandfather will remain one of the most glorious experiences of my youth. Learning to milk a cow. Watching the bees around their hives in Maria’s garden. Searching for eggs in the barn. Picking wild blueberries and cranberries. Feeding noisy pigs. Quietly spending hours in an abandoned stone quarry where I watched frogs and salamanders in puddles of water. Observing the local cheese maker making cheeses. And, of course, enjoying the robust, yet delicious meals.

All this and more in this sheltered and pastoral place while a murderous war was ravaging Europe.

-Eric Carle

Pictures from Portugal

2009-06-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

I received many lovely e-mails and letters this spring including these beautiful photographs of pictures from a book created by school children in Portugal.

I hope you will enjoy these too!
Eric Carle

Turning 80

2009-06-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Here I am with my mother in 1934 in Syracuse, NY. I was 5 years old when this photograph was taken, and now I am 80 years old.

Many things have happened between then and now, but I feel a strong connection to the child I once was, the child that is still inside. I can still remember while on a walk with my father, holding a lizard in my hands - the way it moved and pushed its head against the insides of my cupped hands; sitting in my Grandmother's lap and understanding her German words but not being able to respond; the support and kindness of my mother who encouraged my creative interests; I remember the light streaming in through the windows of my classroom, which I've thought of as my first experience of beauty.

There are so many moments that have stayed with me, or that come back if I scratch the surface of my memory by looking at an old photograph.

Eric Carle

A Quintet of Books

2009-06-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, readers ask me why a number of my books have the word "Very" in the title. After The Very Hungry Caterpillar had been published I wanted to create a “Very” quartet. Why a quartet? I liked the idea of a group. But also, I must admit that I had been taken by the sound of The Alexandria Quartet, written by Lawrence Durrell, which I read a long time ago. The story of which I cannot much recall, but the sound of these three words, The Alexandria Quartet have remained with me. Ideas, or a speck of an idea, come from the darndest places! I proceeded to write and illustrate Spider, Cricket and Firefly and completed my quartet. But what should happen? A tiny voice whispered to me “quintet” And so the Click Beetle was born.

However, each "Very" book came about in a different way. The Very Hungry Caterpillar had a sort of accidental beginning in that I was punching holes into a stack of papers. I knew right away that the spider in The Very Busy Spider would be the hero, but it took me a long time to come up with the idea of a raised web. (In the first book the hole was the given - the caterpillar followed. In the second book, the spider was the given - the raised web followed.) With The Very Quiet Cricket, my third Very book, I knew from the beginning about the insect and the sound. In my fourth Very book, The Very Lonely Firely, I knew I wanted a different kind of surprise at the end. And with The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, the fifth book in my quintet, the theme of perseverance, that one must try and try again, was where I began.

Now I have a complete quintet. Five movements exploring a theme. I sometimes feel like a composer of music - and why not!

I hope you have enjoyed these thoughts on my Very books and my musings on how these compositions came to life. Be it crickets or humans, we can only make music when the circumstances are right. I didn't invent that, I only observed it.

Eric Carle

All the Colors

2009-05-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

A recent burst of color in my neighborhood!

Eric Carle

Some thoughts on LOOKING and SEEING

2009-05-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Art is often thought of as a painting or sculpture in a museum. And while this is true, it is only partially so. We tend to overlook things of beauty that surround us in our daily lives. A spider web, the bark of a tree, the surface of a rock. And beauty is not only found in nature, look closely at a screw imbedded in a piece of rusty steel, a broken windowpane, the bristles of a hardened paint brush, a segment of colorful graffiti on a concrete wall, which, by the way, tells us that art and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder and may not be considered “beautiful”.

In order to heighten one’s sense of looking and seeing try cutting a square window, about 15 cm, into a piece of sturdy paper and look through it. Hold it close or at arm’s length and look at all kinds of things around you.

You’ll be surprised how different the same object will look when viewed through the frame held up close or from a distance.

Look close up at the surface of the sidewalk, a piece of sandpaper, a weathered piece of wood

Or look at the leaves of a tree or bush.

Have you ever noticed how many shapes and sizes and colors leaves have?

Look up at a cloud. Let it drift by or move along with it.

What you see is a strange and beautiful world which you may not have been aware of.

By framing an image that way and isolating it from its usual surrounding it often takes on a different quality or meaning.

By now you understand what I am trying to express. There are so many things to look at and see differently from what we are used to.

In a museum, I like to look closely at a large masterpiece and study a very small area of brush strokes.

I am fascinated by the small world of brush strokes isolated from the painting itself. Try it sometime and you too will be amazed.

Eric Carle

ABSTRACT ART

2009-05-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I sometimes like to create abstract pieces using my painted tissue paper sheets, as well as other materials such as silk fabric, plate glass, plastic sheathing and aluminum foil. I continue to create pieces in my studio, little works that for one reason or another capture my attention. I thought you might like to see an example of this kind of art including an Ingo Maurer ceiling lamp in my home that I decorated using pieces of my painted papers!

Eric Carle

LA Times Books Festival

2009-04-29T13:44:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

While I've cut back a good deal on the number of book signings I do, I still make a few scheduled appearances each year. Recently, I signed copies of my books and gave a presentation at the LA Times Book Festival, an event for which I also created art for the program and other publicity materials. It was a very well-organized festival and I was delighted to meet readers and fans of all ages who were there. I hope you enjoy these photos of the few days in California.

Eric Carle

A Day in My Life

2009-04-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I thought you might enjoy a small view into my daily life in Florida. I have said it often and it remains true that I very much enjoy the quiet days at home in my garden,

playing solitaire,

spending time with Bobbie,

watching the crabs,

feeding stray cats,

and Iguanas who frequent our property.

I still spend time in my studio but am very happily doing little else.

Soon we will leave to spend the summer in North Carolina. I love it there too, but have enjoyed this time near the ocean immensely.

Eric Carle

Around the world

2009-04-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I wanted to share some of the stories and photographs of international celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been translated into more than 47 languages and it has been wonderful to read about and see photos from events in Russia, Taiwan and London among other cities and countries.

We heard there were hundreds of events at schools and libraries in Germany; that The Very Hungry Caterpillar himself came to celebrate on the streets of London.

We received photos from two days of celebrating at a fun fair in Taiwan that more than 3000 people participated in! And in Moscow, art classes were held in libraries and bookstores as well as a program on making a cartoon at the Cancer Department of the Moscow Children's Hospital.

These stories and pictures have been a true delight to receive and I am thankful to be able to share them with all of you.
Best wishes,
Eric Carle

Gratitude

2009-03-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

My wife Bobbie and I are sending our best wishes to all who are celebrating the 40th Anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar today and our heartfelt gratitude for all of the messages from readers from around the world.

We have heard of celebrations taking place in Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, England, Puerto Rico, New York, California, Hawaii, Wisconsin, Singapore and in other cities and countries around the world.

It is a wonderful day!

Eric and Bobbie Carle

On Making a Mess

2009-03-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

A group of kindergarten students from Michigan visited my web site recently and watched how I painted a mural on a large piece of Tyvek that I rolled out on the floor of my studio. They were wondering how I could step on the painting while the paint was still wet. While I tried not to step on the wet paint when I was creating the mural, you can see from the photo here that I do sometimes get paint on my shoes when I am working. Making pictures and creating art can sometimes be a messy job. But that’s ok. I’ve grown to enjoy the spots and dots that my work sometimes leaves behind and occasionally, without even realizing it, the inadvertent mess or the “mistakes” I make, end up seeming more interesting than I ever would have expected. I have even made art out of the materials I use to create my pictures such as these yogurt container lids saved from my lunch that served as my paint tray.

But a good smock or apron can help keep your clothes clean while you use paints or glue or colored chalk.

Keep up the good work!

Eric Carle

P.S. I am a yogurt fan and am happy to have my work featured on Stonyfield YoBaby Yogurts!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book

2009-03-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I hope you will enjoy these wonderful pictures of the new Pop-Up edition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar being read by a group of children.

These photos make me happy as a starred review.

I hope you too will enjoy this new edition of my story.
Eric Carle

Photo credit: Vu Phan

80/40

2009-02-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

This year I am celebrating two birthdays, my own 80th and the 40th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. There are many events and programs happening around the world for The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 40th and there is an exhibit currently on view at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art called 80/40: Celebrating the Birthdays of Eric Carle and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. For more information and for a little preview of the exhibition, you might like to visit the Museum's web site at http://www.carlemuseum.org/Exhibitions/Current_Exhibitions

Eric Carle

My Favorite Food

2009-02-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I am often asked what my favorite this or that is - color, character, animal – and occasionally someone will ask – What is your favorite food? And while there are many foods I enjoy eating, I have always loved Blackforest honey since I was a child and I think I always will. Here I am enjoying it for breakfast.

Eric Carle

My Favorite Things

2009-01-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I was delighted to be asked to create a piece for the House of Illustration, a picture book art museum being developed in London by Quentin Blake and other friends in the UK. For the project, entitled - What Are You Like? - I was asked to list eight of my favorite things and in this way create a kind of self-portrait. The piece has been printed as a limited edition signed giclee lithograph which can be purchased by visiting the House of Illustration web site shop at http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/shop.php#prints.

While it hasn’t been my custom to plug books or products, I want to do my best to support this worthy cause. All proceeds from the sale of this print support the development of the House of Illustration.

Eric Carle

Mr. Hiroshi Imamura

2009-01-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

It has been a great pleasure and privilege to work with my Japanese publisher Kaisei-sha over the years. Our relationship began in the late 1960's, when my editor Ann Beneduce brought with her on a trip to Japan, a copy of my yet to be published book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Because of its special features, the die-cut holes in the fruits and foods and the graduated, shortened pages - Ann had been unable to find a printer in the U.S. It was Mr. Hiroshi Imamura, then president of Kaisei-sha, who found a way to print The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Japan and who embraced the challenge it took to make this book a reality.

Now The Very Hungry Caterpillar is turning forty and while there is a great deal to celebrate this anniversary year, I especially want to honor and remember Mr. Hiroshi Imamura, who passed away in November, 2008. For his kind and generous effort, I am deeply grateful. We will always remember him with great fondness and admiration.

Eric Carle

Where I Live Now

2009-01-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Since turning 75 when I made the decision to retire from the daily office and studio work, I have been fortunate to live in two places of great beauty, spending the winter in one of the Florida keys and the summer in the mountains of North Carolina. My wife Bobbie is from North Carolina and still has friends and family nearby so we both feel right at home and taken in by the warmth of the community there. We have a view of the hills that are sometimes so covered in fog it is like an ocean of mist outside our windows. But the climate in the summer is very comfortable. For many years, we lived in the hills of western Massachusetts, also a beautiful area, (and we moved there from New York City! You see I have been moving around a lot!). We had a very nice flower garden there and I enjoyed watching out for visitors from the nearby forest including bears, deer, porcupines, foxes, skunks and many birds. Once I opened the door from the inside of the house and stood nose to nose with a bear, separated by the screen door only. I don't know who was more surprised! Then the bear ran away. Actually they are very shy.

In Florida, our home is very close to the water and we are constantly marveling at the view of the ocean, Ospreys and Pelicans flying past and Iguanas strutting among the palm trees and mangroves. This is very far from the kinds of views I had as a child in Germany, and yet the closeness to nature is not that different from what I enjoyed as a child when my father took me out for walks and showed me all that could be found on a trail in the woods.

I will turn 80 years old in June and it is wonderful to have these days by the sea and in the hills, with Bobbie and all of our close friends and family nearby or able to visit. And to have a studio to work in both places. I have no complaints.

Eric Carle

Japan Exhibit

2008-12-18T13:17:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

I am fortunate to have been able to travel over the years. My visits to Japan have been very inspiring. In Japan, there are numerous Picture Book Museums, some small, some large, and it was during our visits to Japan that my wife Bobbie and I had the idea to build The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in the U.S.

This year there was an exhibit of my work, including non-book-art, in Japan that is still on tour. Since I turned 75 I have cut back on my travels quite a bit, but I was so pleased to see photographs of the opening exhibit in Tokyo taken by Motoko, my assistant of many years, who is originally from Japan as well as more recent photos from the exhibition in Kyoto. I hope you will enjoy these pictures!

More soon,
Eric Carle

P.S.

This exhibit will be on view at the following locations in Japan in 2008-2009:

JR Kyoto Isetan until 28 December, 2008

JR Nagoya Takashimaya 17 February - 2 March, 2009

Sogo Museum of Art 3 April - 6 May, 2009

Sapporo Daimaru 13 May - 25 May, 2009

Christmas Cookies

2008-12-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Happy Holidays!

While I wasn't raised in a religious family, we celebrated Christmas and there were certain rituals that coincided with this holiday that I still remember very well. Weeks ahead of Christmas both my grandmothers started baking cookies: SPRINGERLE HASELNUSSGUTSLE, STERNE, LEBKUCHEN, STOLLEN and other mouth watering creations - or should I say "tongue twisting" after you have attempted to pronounce the German names for all kinds of delicious goodies?

Then my grandmothers would hide the cookies. It was easy to figure out where they had hidden them, all you had to do was follow your nose. But that would lead you to a locked door! And you needed 2 keys. One for the locked door and a second key for a locked chest inside the locked room. Well, usually we grandchildren had a way of getting those keys. Then there was a lot of sneaking around and a greatly reduced stock of Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve!

Every year my grandmothers pretended that they were surprised and scolded us. And they were going to tell Saint Nicholas. But they never did and I suspect that they knew that cookie stealing was also part of Christmas. I guess they figured that some of the cookies were going to get "lost" and therefore made an extra batch or two.

Maybe you have a ritual in your family that you will remember for a long time as well!

Eric Carle

Resources on web site for teachers and parents

2008-12-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,
I am happy to announce that a new RESOURCES section has been added to the Official Eric Carle web site. I hope you will enjoy the materials and information in this section, including links to on line interviews and a downloadable sheet of instructions on how to make a collage illustration in the style of Eric Carle! You can also still visit the Caterpillar Exchange Bulletin Board. This is a bulletin board where educators can exchange their ideas on how they use my books in the classroom.

My background is in design, not education, but I feel strongly that children should be encouraged to learn in their own particular way and it always means a great deal to me when an educator finds my work valuable in the classroom.

I hope these materials will be useful for you at school or at home!
Eric Carle

2008-11-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,
I am recently back from 4th Annual Carle Honors Awards in New York City. This event celebrates and honors four people each year who have made a significant contribution to the world of picture books and is a fundraiser for The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

This year the honorees were author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, Museum benefactors Jim & Vanita Oelschlager, writer and lecturer Jim Trelease and editor Susan Hirschman.

This festive event was a great success, as was the auction of pieces created by 23 artists.

It was wonderful to see friends, authors and illustrators, as well as friends from the worlds of publishing and licensing. I said a few words at the Carle Honors and in my speech mentioned how recently, when I think of the Museum and life in general, the Beatles come to mind : It’s getting “betta” all the time! Here are some photos from this very special occasion and important fundraiser for the Museum. For information about the Museum, please visit www.carlemuseum.org Please visit sometime!
Eric Carle