Eric Carle


Eric Carle is an American designer, illustrator, and writer of children's books. He is most noted for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a picture book that has been translated into more than 66 languages and sold more than 50 million copies, equivalent to 1.8 copies sold every minute since it was published in 1969. His career as an illustrator and children's book author took off after he collaborated on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? He has illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote, and more than 145 million copies of his books have been sold around the world.
In 2003, the American Library Association awarded Carle the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, a prize for writers or illustrators of children's books published in the U.S. who have made lasting contributions to the field. Carle was also a U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2010.

Early life

Eric Carle was born on June 25, 1929 to Johanna and Erich Carle in Syracuse, New York. When he was six years old, his mother, homesick in Germany, led the family back to Stuttgart. He was educated there and graduated from the local art school, the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. Eric's father was drafted into the German army at the beginning of World War II and taken prisoner by the Soviet forces when Germany capitulated early in 1945. He returned home late in 1947 weighing 85 pounds. "When he came back, he was a broken man," Carle told The Guardian years later. He was a "dead man, psychologically, physically devastated."
Eric had been sent to the small town of Schwenningen to escape the bombings of Stuttgart. When he was 15 the German government conscripted boys of that age to dig trenches on the Siegfried line. He does not care to think about it deeply and says his wife thinks he suffers from post-traumatic stress.
Always homesick for America, Eric dreamed of returning home one day. He eventually made it to New York City in 1952 with only $40 in savings and landed a job as graphic designer in the promotion department of The New York Times. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War and stationed in Germany with the 2nd Armoured Division as a mail clerk. After discharge he returned to his old job with The New York Times. Later he became the art director of an advertising agency.

Writing and illustrating career

Educator and author Bill Martin, Jr. first noticed the illustration of a red lobster Carle had created for an advertisement and asked him to collaborate on a picture book.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was published by Henry Holt & Co. in 1967 and became a best-seller. This began Carle's career as an illustrator and he was soon writing and illustrating his own stories. His first books as both author and illustrator were to the Zoo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Eric Carle's art is distinctive and instantly recognizable. His artwork is created in collage technique, using hand-painted papers, which he cuts and layers to form bright and colourful images. Many of his books have an added dimension—die-cut pages, twinkling lights as in The Very Lonely Firefly, even the lifelike sound of a cricket's song as in The Very Quiet Cricket.
The themes of his stories are usually drawn from his extensive knowledge and love of nature— an interest shared by most small children. Carle attempts to make his books not only entertaining but also to offer his readers the opportunity to learn something about the world around them. When writing, Carle attempts to recognize children's feelings, inquisitiveness and creativity, as well as stimulate their intellectual growth; it is for these reasons that many feel his books have been such a success.
In his own words:

Later life

For over 30 years, Carle and his second wife, Barbara Morrison, lived in Northampton, Massachusetts. As of 2019, he lives in Key West, Florida. Carle has a son and a daughter.
With his wife, he founded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art devoted to the art of children's books in Amherst adjacent to Hampshire College as part of the Hampshire College Cultural Village. The Museum has welcomed more than 500,000 visitors, including more than 30,000 school children, since it opened its doors in 2002.
Eric Carle has received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities including Williams College in 2016, Smith College in 2014, Appalachian State University in 2013 and from Bates College in 2007.
Google paid tribute to Carle and his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by asking him to design the logo "Google doodle", introduced on its home page on March 20, 2009, celebrating the first day of spring. He also designed a "Google doodle" with autumnal theme for the use in Southern Hemisphere.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was chosen by Jumpstart for Young Children as the book for Read For the Record 2009 on October 8 of that year. The program encourages educators, librarians and parents to try to have as many as possible read the same book on the same day all over the world.
Carle has won numerous awards for his work in children's literature, including the Japan Picture Book Award, the Regina Medal and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators, and most for his collages, all from 1989 to 2008. In 2003, he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award,from the professional children's librarians, which recognizes an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made "a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children". The committee cited his "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."
In a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was voted the number two children's picture book behind Where the Wild Things Are.
In 2019, a jumping spider mimicking a caterpillar was named in Carle's honour, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and to celebrate his 90th birthday.
The Frist Art Museum exhibition Eric Carle's Picture Books: Celebrating 50 Years of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" will be on display October 18, 2019, through February 23, 2020. In November 2019, Carle sold his publishing rights to Penguin Random House.

Selected Works