Eric Carle (1929–2021)
Author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar
About the Author
Eric Carle is an award-winning, children's picture book author and illustrator whose most recognized work is The Very Hungry Caterpillar Board Book. Carle was born to German parents in 1929 in Syracuse, New York. The family returned to Germany in 1935, moving to a suburb of Stuttgart. Carle show more disliked high school, quitting at the age of 16 before graduation. He was admitted as the youngest student to the Akademie der bildenden Kunste, an art school. After finishing at the Akademie, he worked as a poster designer for the U.S. Information Center in Germany until 1952, when he moved back to New York City. He was a graphic designer at the New York Times and later worked as an art director at L.W. Frohlich & Co. In 1963, Bill Martin, Jr. saw a poster of a red lobster that Carle had designed and asked him to illustrate Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, thus launching his freelance career. Among his many children's books are Dream Snow, Hello, Red Fox, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, and Pancakes, Pancakes! His title The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse made Publisher's Weekly Best Seller List for 2011. His title Brown Bear Brown Bear What to You See? made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. In 2015 he made The New Zealand Best Seller List with Love from the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric Carle, beloved children's book author and illustrator, died on May 23, 2021. He was 91. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Eric Carle lit son livre « La chenille qui fait des trous » à la télévision, en 2009, à New York
Series
Works by Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Breakfast: A Counting Book (The World of Eric Carle) (2021) 117 copies
Animals/Animales: My Very First Bilingual Book (The World of Eric Carle) (Spanish Edition) (2008) 107 copies
Eric Carle's Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Other Nursery Rhymes: A Lift-the-Flap Book (The World of Eric Carle) (2021) 67 copies
Happy Halloween from The Very Busy Spider: A Lift-the-Flap Book (The World of Eric Carle) (2020) 45 copies
The Eric Carle Ready-to-Read Collection: Have You Seen My Cat?; The Greedy Python; Pancakes, Pancakes!; Rooster Is Off… (2014) 37 copies
Can You Guess? Animal Sounds with The Very Hungry Caterpillar (The World of Eric Carle) (2021) 35 copies
The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Snowy Hide & Seek: A Finger Trail Lift-the-Flap Book (The World of Eric Carle) (2020) 33 copies
A Day on the Farm with The Very Hungry Caterpillar: A Tabbed Board Book (The World of Eric Carle) (2021) 32 copies
The Eric Carle Library Featuring 8 Classic Board Books Boxed Set [The Greedy Python, The Foolish Toroise, Rooster's Off… (2013) 20 copies
How Does a Tadpole Grow?: Life Cycles with The Very Hungry Caterpillar (The World of Eric Carle) (2022) 20 copies
Quick and Slow (The World of Eric Carle) 18 copies
The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Forest Hide & Seek: A Finger Trail Lift-the-Flap Book (The World of Eric Carle) (2021) 17 copies
How Does a Seed Sprout?: Life Cycles with The Very Hungry Caterpillar (The World of Eric Carle) (2022) 17 copies
Below Us, under the Earth and Sea 16 copies
How Does a Caterpillar Change?: Life Cycles with The Very Hungry Caterpillar (The World of Eric Carle) (2022) 16 copies
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Snacks: An Opposites Book (The World of Eric Carle) (2022) 13 copies
Eric Carle's bugs and buddies 10 copies
The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Garden Picnic: A Scratch-and-Sniff Book (The World of Eric Carle) (2020) 8 copies
The Eric Carle Gift Set: The Tiny Seed; Pancakes, Pancakes!; A House for Hermit Crab; Rooster's Off to See the… (2013) 8 copies
Up and Down 7 copies
The Complete Car Book 6 copies
Eric Carle: A Classic Picture 6 Books Collection Set With Two-Sided Poster Inside! (1, 2, 3 to the Zoo: A Counting… (2018) 6 copies
Under the Sea 4 copies
Baby Bear's Busy Day with Brown Bear and Friends (World of Eric Carle) (The World of Eric Carle) (2023) 4 copies
Fins, Fleece, Feathers & Fur 3 copies
Eric Carle Ready-to-Read Value Pack: Have You Seen My Cat?; Walter the Baker; The Greedy Python; Rooster Is Off to See… (2016) 3 copies
Bird Calls 3 copies
Look and Find: Birds (4/4) 2 copies
Pets preschool discovery pack 2 copies
Animal sounds 2 copies
Baby Bear's Busy Day with Brown Bear and Friends (World of Eric Carle) (The World of Eric Carle) (2023) 2 copies
In the Backyard 2 copies
What Do You See? 2 copies
Small Wonders 2 copies
Catch the Ball! 1 copy
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Touch & Feel Picture Books, Includes Text in Braille) [Hardcover] [Jan 01, 2006] Eric… (2006) 1 copy
Rhyming & Opposites 1 copy
Colors & Numbers 1 copy
Die kleine Raupe Nimmersatt 1 copy
On the Farm 1 copy
What Do Animals Eat? 1 copy
Brown Bear and Friends 1 copy
The World of Eric Carle set [Wonderful Words, Color & Shapes, Big Beautiful World, one Two Three] 1 copy
Het Kameleon is in de war 1 copy
A joaninha mal-humorada 1 copy
Look and Find ABC Letters 1 copy
Kleine Wolke. ( Ab 3 J.). 1 copy
Look and Find words 1 copy
Alphabet Puzzle 1 copy
Up in the Sky 1 copy
Cat & Dog 1 copy
Passt auf,ein Riese! 1 copy
Raupe Nimmersatt & Co. 1 copy
Colors 1 copy
Chatter, Chirp, Bark & Buzz 1 copy
Die kleine Maus sucht einen Freund. Kamishibai Bildkartenset.: Entdecken - Erzählen - Begreifen:… (2019) 1 copy
Do You Want to Be My Friend | The Grouchy Ladybug | Rooster's Off to See the World | Today is Monday (2010) 1 copy
Rupsje Nooitgenoeg Babyboek 1 copy
On board pages. 1 copy
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? 2 books wit 2 Cd's (2000) 1 copy
Questions, Questions 1 copy
numbers 1 copy
The very hungry caterpillars 1 copy
Day to Night 1 copy
Eric Carle 6 Classic Tales 1 copy
My First Peek-A-Book Animals 1 copy
Animals All Around 1 copy
Come to the Table 1 copy
Explore The Backyard 1 copy
Queres Brincar Comigo? 1 copy
When I'm BIG 1 copy
Look and Find: Letters (2/4) 1 copy
Look and Find: Colors (1/4) 1 copy
Look and Find: Numbers (3/4) 1 copy
Discover the Woodlands 1 copy
To Grow a Seed 1 copy
The Grouchy Ladybuy 1 copy
Walk Through the Seasons 1 copy
Down in the Deep 1 copy
Flutter, Fly, Sing, and Spin 1 copy
Feathery Friends 1 copy
Associated Works
Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children's Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became An American Icon Along… (2007) — Foreword — 150 copies
The Graphic Canon of Children's Literature: The World's Greatest Kids' Lit as Comics and Visuals (2014) — Contributor — 90 copies
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? / Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? / Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do… (2003) — Illustrator — 43 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1929-06-25
- Date of death
- 2021-05-23
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA (birth)
Germany - Country (for map)
- Germany
- Birthplace
- Syracuse, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
- Cause of death
- kidney failure
- Places of residence
- Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
New York, New York, USA
Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
Key West, Florida, USA - Education
- Akademie der bildenden Kunste, Stuttgart
- Occupations
- illustrator
magazine art director
children's book author - Organizations
- United States Army
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art - Awards and honors
- Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (2003)
Officers Cross of the Order of Merit, Federal Republic of Germany (2001)
Society of Illustrators Lifetime Achievement Award (Contemporary ∙ 2010)
Regina Medal (1999)
Japan Picture Book Award (200)
Members
Reviews
Independent Reading Level: k-3
Awards: Children's Choice Book Award, Irma S. Black Award for excellence in children's literature.
Awards: Children's Choice Book Award, Irma S. Black Award for excellence in children's literature.
Lists
Which house? (1)
Storytime (1)
Christmas Books (1)
BBC Big Read (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 469
- Also by
- 25
- Members
- 122,642
- Popularity
- #62
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 3,644
- ISBNs
- 2,032
- Languages
- 38
- Favorited
- 60
The fable retellings contained in The Rabbit and the Turtle were originally included in Eric Carle's 1988 Treasury of Classic Stories for Children, which included twenty-two folktales, fairy-tales and fables from Aesop, Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. Some of the content here appeared even earlier, in Carle's Twelve Tales from Aesop, published in 1980. Leaving that publication history aside, I found this an engaging collection, and enjoyed Carle's retellings. I also enjoyed his artwork (which I tend to find more interesting than pleasing), although I'm not sure how well it worked as an accompaniment to these fables. I'm glad to have read this one, both because Carle is such an important figure in the world of children's literature, and because I have an interest in Aesopian retellings, but on the whole I think I prefer other collections (the Milo Winter and Jerry Pinkney ones, chiefly) to this one. Still, fans of Carle who are also looking for Aesop collections, or who enjoy animal stories might want to give this one a try, and it is to them I would recommend it.… (more)