Latest Trending
Last Updated, May 27, 2021, 12:46 AM
Eric Carle, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ Author, Dies at 91
Share This


Eric Carle, the beloved children’s author and illustrator whose classic “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and other works gave millions of kids some of their earliest and most cherished literary memories, has died at age 91.

Carle’s family said he died Sunday at his summer studio in Northampton, Mass., with family members at his side. The family’s announcement was issued by Penguin Young Leaders.

Through books like “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” “Do You Want to Be My Friend?” and “From Head to Toe,” Carle introduced universal themes in simple words and bright colors.

“The unknown often brings fear with it,” he once observed. “In my books I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun.”

The author at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass., in 2011.



Photo:

Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” published in 1969, was welcomed by parents and delighted children with its story of the metamorphosis of a green and red caterpillar with a touch of blue and brown to a proudly multicolored butterfly.

Originally conceived as a book about a bookworm—called “A Week with Willi the Worm”—the hero, who eats through 26 different foods, was changed to a caterpillar on the advice of his editor. It has sold some 40 million copies and has been translated into 60 languages, spawned stuffed animal caterpillars and has been turned into a stage play.

“I remember that as a child, I always felt I would never grow up and be big and articulate and intelligent,” Carle told the New York Times in 1994. “‘Caterpillar’ is a book of hope: you, too, can grow up and grow wings.”

Politicians like George W. Bush and

Hillary Clinton

were known to read the book to children on the campaign trail. The American Academy of Pediatrics sent more than 17,000 pediatricians special copies of the book, along with growth charts and parent handouts on healthy eating. Fellow writer and illustrator Ted Dewan called the book one of the pillars of children’s culture. “It’s almost talking about how great the Beatles were. It’s beyond reproach,” he said.

Carle wrote and-or illustrated more than 75 books, sometimes working with Bill Martin Jr. or other authors, but most with Carle working alone. One of his last books was 2015’s “The Nonsense Show,” which centered on a parade of flying fish, cat-taming mice and circus animals.

First Lady Laura Bush read ‘Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?’ written by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle, to children in Manila in 2003.



Photo:

Dennis Sabangan/EPA/Shutterstock

Born to German immigrant parents in Syracuse, N.Y., Carle and his family returned to Germany—Nazi Germany, at the time—when he was 6. Under the Nazis, modern, expressionistic and abstract art was banned and only realistic and naturalistic art was permitted.

When Carle was 12 or 13, a high school art teacher would change his life by inviting him to his home, where he secretly showed his expressionist art, including Franz Marc’s “Blue Horse.”

“I was used to pretty paintings with a mountain in the background. Although I was shocked, I always carried that day in my heart,” Carle told NPR in 2011. As an illustrator, he said he chose to portray animals in unconventional colors to show his young readers that in art, there is no wrong color. He thanked Marc in the pages of “The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse.”

His signature illustration technique was done by piecing pictures together chiefly from tissue paper that he had painted with various colors and textures. “It sounds corny, but I think I connect with the child in me, and I think others do, too,” he told the Associated Press in 2003.

His father introduced him to the wonders of the living creatures that he would later immortalize in his books. “When I was a small child, as far back as I can remember, he would take me by the hand and we would go out in nature,” he told the New York Times in 1994. “And he would show me worms and bugs and bees and ants and explain their lives to me. It was a very loving relationship.”

Eric Carle, seen here with children’s television host Fred Rogers, often created his illustrations by piecing pictures together from painted tissue paper.



Photo:

Everett Collection

The theme of kids mastering the world was tackled in other tales of critters with big predicaments: “The Very Busy Spider,” “The Very Quiet Cricket,” “The Very Lonely Firefly” and “Friends.” The love of family was explored in such books as “Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me,” 1986; and “Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?” from 2000.

After graduating from a German art school, he returned to the U.S. in 1952. He worked as a graphic designer in the promotion department of the New York Times before switching to advertising.

It was Martin who spotted Carle’s talents and brought him into the publishing field. Carle was working as an art director for an advertising agency at the time; Martin had just written “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and needed an illustrator.

“While waiting for a dentist appointment, I came across an ad he had done that featured a Maine lobster,” Martin, who died in 2004, told the AP in 2003. “The art was so striking that I knew instantly that I had found my artist!”

The book, which introduces colors and animals to young readers, came out in 1967 and became a perennial bestseller. Their other joint works were 1991’s “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?” and 2003’s “Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?”

In 2002, Carle and his late wife,

Barbara Carle,

founded the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Based in Amherst, Mas., the nonprofit, 40,000-square-foot arts center is a showcase for picture-book illustrations from around the world. He received lifetime achievement awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Library Association.

He is survived by a son and a daughter.

The author and illustrator at a reading of one of his books at a New York children’s hospital in 2007



Photo:

Mary Altaffer/Associated Press

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

24World Media does not take any responsibility of the information you see on this page. The content this page contains is from independent third-party content provider. If you have any concerns regarding the content, please free to write us here: contact@24worldmedia.com

Latest Post

4 Advantages of Owning Your Own Dump Truck

Last Updated,Oct 4, 2024

5 Characteristics of Truth and Consequences in NM

Last Updated,Sep 30, 2024

How To Make Your Wedding More Accessible

Last Updated,Sep 11, 2024

Ensure Large-Format Printing Success With These Tips

Last Updated,Sep 11, 2024

4 Reasons To Consider an Artificial Lawn

Last Updated,Sep 11, 2024

The Importance of Industrial Bearings in Manufacturing

Last Updated,Sep 11, 2024

5 Tips for Getting Your First Product Out the Door

Last Updated,Sep 11, 2024

Most Popular Metal Alloys for Industrial Applications

Last Updated,Sep 6, 2024

5 Errors To Avoid in Your Pharmaceutical Clinical Trial

Last Updated,Aug 20, 2024

Ways You Can Make Your Mining Operation Cleaner

Last Updated,Aug 12, 2024

Tips for Starting a New Part of Your Life

Last Updated,Jul 16, 2024

Easy Ways To Beautify Your Home’s Exterior

Last Updated,Jun 18, 2024