What a legacy! Eric Carle departed this world at 91 years of age leaving behind more than 70 books translated into a number of languages with his most famous, A Very Hungry Caterpillar, selling more than 50 million copies. There may be more than 50 million voices paying tribute to him after his death this week, but I feel compelled to add my own.
In the summer of 1978, Incarnate Word College (now University) offered what was then an unusual opportunity to elementary education graduate students. For one week, we attended a workshop with big names in the children’s book world from early in the morning to late afternoon. Our credit and grade would come from a project we designed to use in our own classrooms with what we had learned. Eric Carle was a guest presenter. He took us through his intriguing life story that I hope someone puts into a book. My favorite memory was his description of how he got the beautiful papers to use in his collages. He described painting tissue paper with everything from artist paints to shoe polish just to see what designs and colors would appear and putting aside those that he would use in his picture books. His eyes twinkled as he added, “Some are too beautiful to cut up. I put those in a drawer to save and pull out just to look at once in a while.” That course and its ensuing project were the most fun I ever had either in undergraduate or graduate school.
I have also loved some more recent connections with Eric Carle. Research begun because of my Ezra Jack Keats interest revealed that Eric Carle had won the University of Southern Mississippi Medallion in 1997 for his contributions to children’s literature. In more recent years, the Eric Carle Museum, that he founded with his wife, hosted the Ezra Jack Keats Exhibit from the Keats archives in the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection that toured several cities. In Carle’s introduction to the exhibit, he cites Keats’ encouragement as a veteran author to a “greenhorn,” assuring Eric that a living could be made from illustrating children’s books. It would be hard not to notice that both of them were masters of collage. Each of them, also, passed on encouragement to those coming behind them through their participation and support of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
My two grandsons, rising second and third graders, commiserated with me this morning. One of them said dying at 91 was too early since Eric Carle needed to be making even more books. According to Carle’s website, he painted almost to the very end. He will be missed, but he left gifts that will keep on giving in his books and in the Eric Carle Museum. A visit is on my bucket list. Thank you, Eric Carle. May you rest in peace.