Eric Carle

I read/looked through the book The Art of Eric Carle written and put together by Carle himself.  The book is full of writings from other people, including his German and American editors. Perhaps the most interesting part was the photo essay of his process while doing collages.  His most famous work is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has been translated into over 47 languages.  His style is colorful, bold and at the same time simple.

Eric Carle was born in Syracuse, N.Y., but moved to Germany when he was four when his mother moved the family back to Struttgart. During WWII, when he was fifteen, Carle was constrcipted by the German army to dig trenches on the Siegfried line.  In 1952, he returned to New York as a graphic designer for The New York Times, but his dream career started with the publication of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” in 1969. Before that was published he was drafted into the US army during the Korean War, where he was stationed in Germany as a mail clerk.  Carle has written or illustrated more than 70 books, endearing himself to generations of children world-wide.  He now lives in Florida and North Carolina.