(person) by junkpile Wed Nov 01 2000 at 13:34:02

Eric Carle was born on June 25, 1929, in Syracuse, New York. His family moved to Germany when Eric was six years old; I do not know what in the hell they were thinking, as the country was then under Nazi rule. Eric was educated there, and graduated from the prestigious art school, the Akademie der bildenden Künste, in Stuttgart. The curriculum was of course very rigid. One early inspiration came from an art teacher who, seeing Eric's talent, brought him to his home to view non-representational art, a crime in Nazi Germany.

Eric always wanted to return to the US, and in 1952, he was finally able to. He arrived back in New York with a portfolio of artwork and forty dollars in his pocket. He soon became a graphic designer for The New York Times. Later, he would serve as the art director of an advertising agency for many years.

Sometime in the early 60s, author Bill Martin Jr.'s eye was caught by a striking picture of a red lobster that Eric had created for an advertisement. He asked Eric to illustrate a story he had written. Martin’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was the result of their collaboration, and is still selling well today.

Eric continued to illustrate, and was soon writing his own stories as well. His first wholly original book was 1,2,3 to the Zoo, soon followed by the very excellent The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Eric's art is distinctive and instantly recognizable. He hand-paints tissue paper, then chops it up and collages it together with wallpaper glue. His colors are always bright and sloppy and complex. Many of his books have a crazy added dimension - die-cut pages, textures, tiny flashing lights, sound effects.

Since he began, Eric has created over 60 beautiful picture books. His gift to himself on his 60th birthday was allowing himself to stay home more, rather than accepting every invitation from every school beggin him to come visit. But he does not intend to stop making books. We're glad.

Eric has two grown children. He and his wife, Barbara, live in western Massachusetts.


Books:

1,2,3 To the Zoo

Animals Animals

The Art of Eric Carle

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Catch the Ball!

Do You Want to Be My Friend?

Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?

Dragons Dragons & Other Creatures That Never Were

Draw Me a Star

Dream Snow

Eric Carle's Treasury of Classic Stories for Children

Flora and Tiger

The Foolish Tortoise

From Head to Toe

The Greedy Python

The Grouchy Ladybug

Have You Seen My Cat?

Hello, Red Fox

The Honeybee and the Robber

A House for Hermit Crab

I See a Song

The Lamb and the Butterly

Let's Paint a Rainbow

Little Cloud

The Mixed-Up Chameleon

The Mountain That Loved a Bird

My Apron

Pancakes, Pancakes!

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

Rooster's Off to See the World

The Secret Birthday Message

Stories for All Seasons

The Tiny Seed

Today Is Monday

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Busy Spider

The Very Clumsy Click Beetle

The Very Lonely Firefly

The Very Quiet Cricket

Walter the Baker

Why Noah Chose the Dove


thanks to:
http://www.cbcbooks.org/columns/archives/ericcarle.htm
http://www.pausd.palo-alto.ca.us/hays/artstudio/carle_art.html
http://www.carolhurst.com/newsletters/24dnewsletters.html
http://www.eric-carle.com/bio.html
www.amazon.com

I like it! 4 C!s

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