Happy 2013!

May there be peace for children everywhere

Some people are very good at finding calming words during unsettled times. I would like to add to the chorus with one of my pictures.

May there be peace for children everywhere. May there be peace for all.

Tree topper

The Very Hungry Caterpillar as tree topper!
Happy December to all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A weekend and 10 years

We've just returned to Florida after a weekend of festivities marking the 10th anniversary of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. More than 1,200 friends and visitors came to the Museum over the course of the weekend including publishers from as far away as Germany and Korea. We feel so proud of the Museum and its wonderful staff and all of the illustrators who came and we thank you all for making this dream of ours a reality. We hope it will be a place where the picture book will be enjoyed and studied for many years to come.

Photo credit : Kristin Angel

10th Anniversary

Dear Friends,
Bobbie and I are very happy to be back in Massachusetts, here to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and the opening of the exhibition, Iconic Images: Ten Years of Collecting for The Carle which includes works by many wonderful illustrators who have found a home for their art work in the Museum's permanent collection. We feel like we are coming home, too, and we are delighted and grateful to be marking this special occasion for The Carle.
We hope you will be able to visit during this anniversary year!

Colors of Fall

More about Beyond Books Exhibit

Here are two more images from the Beyond Books exhibit, currently on display at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. In this photo I am painting a large abstract mural on the floor of my studio in Northampton, MA. The mural is made with acrylic paints on Tyvek, the material used to wrap houses that are under construction.

Here is one of my pieces made with painted glass. My friend Tom Patti, a glass sculptor, helped me to experiment with this new medium. This piece accidentally became cracked. But I actually like it better now than before the glass had broken.
                                                      

I am delighted to have this chance to share my non-illustration work. I hope you will enjoy it!

The Carle Honors 2012

 The 7th annual Carle Honors, a celebration of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, held last week in the inspiring Guastavino's located under the 59th Street bridge, was a wonderful occasion and especially special this year because it is the Museum's 10th anniversary year. The Carle Honors was co-hosted by my dear friend Norton Juster (creator of The Phantom Tollbooth) who with illustrator and cartoonist Jules Feiffer (who, among other books for children, illustrated Norton's The Phantom Tollbooth) brought many smiles to the audience with their humorous speech.

The talented and dedicated staff at the Museum managed once again to organize an elegant evening and auction. Honored at the event were Christopher Cerf (Bridge), Kent Brown (Angel), Frances Foster (Mentor), and Lane Smith (Artist). It was a pleasure to be surrounded by so many artists and writers, editors and friends of the world of picture books with the green glow filling the arched ceilings and space around us.

Photos by Johnny Wolf Photography (c) 2012 The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

Beyond Books

I am very pleased that some of my non-illustration work, which I call "Art Art," will be on exhibit at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art later this month. Here are two pieces from the exhibition that are from a series of photographs that I hope you will enjoy. For more information, please visit the Museum's site here.

Happy August!

Eric Carle: Picture Writer

I am delighted to share that a new film has been made about my work called Eric Carle: Picture Writer The Art of the Picture Book. And that the New England Film Festival Premiere for this film will take place on Saturday, July 28th 2012 at the Woods Hole Film Festival!

Here is a short trailer you might like to watch.

Ezra Jack Keats

It is a delight and an honor to have the work of Ezra Jack Keats on exhibit at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. In the mid-1960's, when I was just getting started as an illustrator of books for children, a friend of mine offered to introduce me to Ezra Keats, a Caldecott Medal Winner. The truth was, I did not know what the Caldecott Medal was or meant at that early stage of my career.

Soon afterward, I was fortunate to have lunch with the very kind and warm Ezra Jack Keats. After lunch, Ezra invited me to his studio where he showed me how he created his beautiful marbled papers. We talked about the business of publishing, he explained so much to me. And he assured me -- I had not quite made the leap of faith into the new direction I was heading -- a living could be made from illustrating books for children.

So, from strangers to colleagues, we soon became friends. We had dinners together and went to parties at each other's apartments in the Village or the Upper Eastside. I was a greenhorn at the threshold of the world of picture book making, and he an experienced professional who reached out to me, such a kind and generous spirit.

I hope you will enjoy the exhibit of his work and if you cannot see it at the Museum, enjoy his wonderful books. 

Ezra Jack Keats, 1973. Photo: Beverly Hall. The Snowy Day and The Art of Ezra Jack Keats is organized by The Jewish Museum, New York, from the collection of the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, The University of Southern Mississippi. The exhibition was funded at The Jewish Museum through a generous grant from the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Joseph Alexander Foundation, the Alfred J. Grunebaum Fund, and the Winnick Family Foundation. Exhibition support at The Carle has been generously provided by Penguin Young Readers Group and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.

Birthday gift

I have been enjoying my birthday week in Massachusetts, especially this past Saturday when it was such a gift to meet so many friends at my annual book signing at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. It gives me a hopeful feeling to see the families together and to meet the teachers and parents and grandparents. Thank you so much for coming all who were there - from near and far - I had a great time!

Photo credit: Kristin Angel

My Annual Book Signing

I am looking forward to seeing friends and visitors and to signing books with my favorite blue pens at
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art on Saturday, June 23, 2012. For more information about the signing, please visit the Museum's web site here. Hope to see you there!

Summer fruits

Soon it will be summer and it will be time for The Very Hungry Caterpillar Fruit Salad!

1 Apple
2 Pears
3 Plums
4 Strawberries
5 Oranges
bunch of mint leaves

Peel, pare, seed, hull and section each fruit.
Cut into bite-sized pieces.
Then put them all together in a big bowl and chill.
Garnish each serving with a sprig of mint.

Serve to a small group of friends, after reading a good book.
You'll enjoy every bit of it!

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Thank you to my friends at Dolly Parton's Imagination Library for selecting my book 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo to be included in their impressive program. This literacy program has donated nearly 40 million books to children in the United States, Canada and the UK. I am honored to be a part of the Imagination Library and hope you will enjoy learning about it, too!

Happy Mother's Day

                                           
         To all mothers everywhere!

Remembering Maurice Sendak

As are so many friends and readers of his brilliant books, I too am remembering the king and genius of the picture book who has left for the land of the Wild Things. These photos bring back wonderful memories of the opening celebration of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 10 years ago. Maurice graced us with his presence and the walls of the Museum with his glorious work. Thank you Maurice Sendak. We will miss you.

Photo credit: Michael Neugebauer

The Peaceful Sloth

Around the time the building of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art was coming to completion, nearly a decade ago, I was feeling overwhelmed, and so I locked myself in my studio and hung out the DO NOT DISTURB sign. My life had become so busy with meetings and appointments. That was when the gentle and slow moving Sloth came to my mind. I became fascinated by this strange creature that sleeps up to 20 out of 24 hours; this boring animal who eats 10% of what animals of equal size and weight consume; this expressionless critter who lives by itself and rarely makes a noise seemed the perfect antidote to the hectic situation I found myself in.

Our lives have become increasingly frenetic. We are constantly bombarded by all kinds of messages about scandals, wars and what soap to buy. We eat fast food, rush to the next appointment, click away at our computers, fly and drive in all directions. Maybe the peaceful Sloth can teach us something...? This image is an alternative collage illustration that was not used in my book Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth. You might be interested to know that pictures from my book Slowly are currently on exhibit at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and that this year -- 2012 -- the Museum will be celebrating its 10th anniversary!

Mermaid Theatre visits Massachusetts

The puppeteers and stage managers of The Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia bring my stories to life on stage in the black-light puppetry productions of my books. One such troupe (including Christine Oakey, Sarah-Jean Begin
and Dan Bates in photo above) recently performed in Massachusetts and stopped by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and our offices in Western MA. If only I had been there to say hello and thank them in person. I know they work very hard using their talents to make magic happen. They are currently touring in North America. Since October, they have performed for more than 100,000 spectators and have traveled more than 49,000 miles! I hope you will be able to see one of their upcoming shows.

Here is a link to the schedule.

Happy Very Hungry Caterpillar Day!

A View of the Trees

In January, I shared my collage picture of palm trees. These are the actual palm trees I see from our window. We are enjoying the view of them in the calm and warm breeze.

Eric Carle English Art Studio in Seoul, Korea

I am delighted to share these photos from a recent installation currently open to the public in Korea that has been set up in conjunction with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.


The installation is an art-making and reading program that will be followed by an exhibit of my work opening in Korea in April, 2012. It is very meaningful for me to know that my work is enjoyed in different countries around the world.

A Love Story and a love song

My book The Very Quiet Cricket is really a love story. For when they find each other, "...he chirped the most beautiful sound that she had ever heard."

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

The Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia

I am very happy to share that our friend Jim Morrow who is the artist director at The Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, the company that produces beautiful black light puppetry productions based on my books, recently received the Mickey Miner Award for outstanding achievement in the field of theatre for young audiences. The award was presented by the US-based International Performing Arts for Youth organization.


I am a great fan of The Mermaid Theatre and have been impressed by their work each time I've been able to see their productions. Here I am talking to Jim on one of his visits to my studio in Massachusetts. I have been captivated by the beauty and magic of Mermaid's black light productions and how they create a delightful performance of the stories while honoring the simplicity and integrity of my books.

I was not familiar with Mermaid's work before they contacted me in the late 1990's to request permission to create black light theatre productions based on my books. But I liked the sensitive way in which they approached and handled the material and in 1998 agreed to their request to create productions based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Quiet Cricket.



Since then, they have produced shows based on numerous other titles and have performed all around the world. These are some recent photos taken of puppets in Mermaid's studio in Nova Scotia.



Here's the link to the schedule for Mermaid's show dates for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in Quebec and the West Coast this Spring and the link to the schedule for "Treasured Stories by Eric Carle" show dates coming up in Madison, WI; Springfield, MO; and Memphis, TN. The Mermaid Theatre will also be performing a benefit show for the students of Joplin, MO on March 13, 2012. I hope you will be able to attend one of their productions!

Land of pelicans and palm trees

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.