Last Updated on: 27th May 2021, 06:10 am
Eric Carle, beloved children’s author and illustrator, whose classics “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and other works have brought some of their oldest and most precious literary memories to millions of children, has passed away at the age of 91.
Carle’s family says he died Sunday at his summer studio in Northampton, Massachusetts with family members by his side.
The family announcement was published by Penguin Young Readers.
“The sky has become more colorful,” wrote Peter H. Reynolds, author and illustrator of “The Dot”, in homage to Twitter. Carle, he said, “made a name for himself, squirted bravely, and inspired people around him to do the same.”
Through books like “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?”
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“Do you want to be my friend?” and Head to Toe, Carle introduced universal themes with simple words and bright colors.
“The unknown often leads to fear,” he once stated. “In my books, I try to counteract this fear and 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 both fascinating and fun.”
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, published in 1969, was greeted by parents and enthusiastic children with the story of the transformation of a green and red caterpillar into a proudly colorful butterfly. Originally conceived as a book about a bookworm – called “A Week with Willi the Worm” – the hero, who eats 26 different foods, was turned into a caterpillar on the advice of his publisher.
It was sold around 40 million times and translated into 60 languages, caterpillars were produced from stuffed animals and turned into a play.
“I remember growing up feeling like I was never going to grow up and be tall, articulate, and intelligent,” Carle told the New York Times in 1994. “Caterpillar” is a book of hope: You too can grow 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 special copies of the book to more than 17,000 pediatricians as well as growth charts and educational materials on healthy eating.
The writer and illustrator Ted Dewan described the book as one of the pillars of children’s culture. “It almost speaks of the quality of the Beatles. It’s flawless,” he said.
Carle has written and/or illustrated over 75 books, sometimes in collaboration with Bill Martin Jr. or other writers, but most with Carle, who works alone. One of his last books was “The Nonsense Show” from 2015, which focused on a parade of flying fish, tame mice, and circus animals.
“Spending time with Eric Carle was the best thing about Santa Claus. His books and defense of the arts will continue to spread over time. But he will be very much missed in the children’s book community,” wrote National Book Prize finalist Jarrett J. Krosoczka on Twitter.
Carle and his family were born to German immigrant parents in Syracuse, New York, and returned to Germany at the age of 6 – then to Nazi Germany.
Under the Nazis, modern, expressionist, and abstract art was banned and only realistic and naturalistic art was allowed.
When Carle was 12 or 13, a high school art teacher changed his life by inviting him to his home, where he secretly exhibited 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 depict animals in non-colors. Conventional to show its young readers that there is nothing bad about color in art. He thanked Marc on the pages of “The artist who painted a blue horse”.
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