Sitting Down to Eat

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

“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

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

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

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

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

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.