23.05.2021

Children’s Literature Genius Eric Carle dies at the age of 91

By Sonia Grandi and Matheus Alves

“Author and illustrator Eric Carle, who died in May, age 91, was a creative genius in children’s literature. He filled our world with color, imagination, and curiosity. His books always bring joy and stimulated the interest and inspiration of children. His best-known work – The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Uma Lagarta Muito Comilona – has always made our students’ eyes sparkle and have fun. Eric used to say that the book has remained popular for so long because this is a book of hope and children need hope,” says Sonia Grandi, Beacon Library Coordinator, to honor him.

Eric Carle was born in 1929 in New York. Despite this, he grew up and was educated in Germany, his mother’s birthplace. Due to World War II, Eric had a troubled childhood. When he was just ten years old, his father was summoned by the German army and became a prisoner of Soviet forces. At the age of 15, he himself  was called to dig trenches on the front lines. His father returned in 1947, weighing only 39 kg, very ill, both physically and psychologically, as the illustrator told in an interview with The Guardian.

He dreamed of returning to the United States. When he finally arrived in New York with just $40 in his pocket, he got a job as a graphic designer at The New York Times. During his time at the newspaper, the US Army even convoked him to be a mail clerk during the Korean War. Later, he became the art director of an advertising agency.

One day, educator and author Bill Martin Jr. noticed an illustration Carle had created for an ad and invited him to collaborate on producing an illustrated book. The book – Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? or “Urso castanho, urso castanho, o que vês aqui?” – became a bestseller. Thus began his career as an illustrator and, in a short time, he was writing and illustrating his own stories. His first books as an author and illustrator were 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, in 1969.

Carle has received numerous honors and awards from universities for his work in children’s literature and even a Google honor. He founded his own museum, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, in Massachusetts, with his wife.

Access the link and discover the author’s books that we have in our libraries.