Eric Carle, writer and illustrator who gave life to 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar,' dies at 91
Source: Washington Post
Eric Carle, the writer and illustrator who delighted millions of youngsters with “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and other classic picture books that captured the riotous colors and imaginative jaunts he craved as a boy, died May 23 at his home in Northampton, Mass. He was 91. His family announced the death in a statement but did not give a cause. Simply told and radiantly illustrated, Mr. Carle’s books have been story-time staples for decades.
Generations of young readers were enchanted by “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” (1969) and its ravenous protagonist, one of the best-loved characters since Peter Rabbit. On the book’s 40th anniversary, Newsweek magazine noted that it had eclipsed “Goodnight Moon” and “The Cat in the Hat” in popularity. Many boys and girls grew up and shared the book, perhaps even the same copy, with their own children, teaching them to read or lulling them to sleep with its words: In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf. One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and — pop! — out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.
In the course of a week, and in a fashion conducive to teaching numbers and days, the caterpillar consumes one apple, two pears, three plums, four strawberries, five oranges and a series of treats including chocolate cake, a pickle and a slice of Swiss cheese. After the stomach-soothing meal of a green leaf, the satiated and no longer tiny caterpillar retreats to a cocoon before emerging as a magnificent butterfly.
In Mr. Carle’s final illustration, a panorama spread over two pages, light seems to shine through the creature’s wings as if through the stained glass windows of a European cathedral. Mr. Carle’s works — more than 70 in all, including “The Grouchy Ladybug,” “The Mixed-Up Chameleon,” “The Very Busy Spider” and “Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?” — sold more than 170 million copies in several dozen languages.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/eric-carle-dead/2021/05/26/cbb39414-2234-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html
R.I.P.
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And now my little granddaughter is reading them. The books are treasures. RIP, Eric Carle.
One of my favorite exhibits at the Frist Center in Nashville was of Carle's work, celebrating the anniversary of the "Very Hungry Caterpillar". He was well loved in our house.
