A true creator, Eric Carle is renowned for his multi-dimensional practice, spanning a large body of fine art works in collage, painting, works on paper and fabric, and sculpture; theater and furniture design; and the stories he envisioned in over 70 brilliantly illustrated and designed children’s picture books. The books Eric created across more than 60 decades have sold over 170 million copies and include timeless classics such as Do You Want to Be My Friend? (1971), The Grouchy Ladybug (1977), Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me(1986), “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth (2002), The Very Clumsy Cricket (2017), and so many more. His best-known work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has been translated into over 70 languages (including Mongolian) and shared around the world since its publication in 1969.

Drawing on his formal training and ongoing practice as an artist (which Eric fondly referred to as his “art art”), Eric quickly developed a distinctive, personal style that he continued to explore and refine in his books, illustrations, and fine art. Numerous artistic influences came together in Eric’s creative output. His art took root in the long tradition of collage, an artistic technique tracing back to the 1900s Dadaist movement, combined with his hand-painted, colorful, and textured tissue papers, which recall the work of abstract artists associated with the Academy of Fine Art Stuttgart (the so-called Stuttgart avantgardists), from where he earned his fine art degree.

His first original, 1,2,3 to the Zoo, was published the very same year. The book was published by Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, and edited by the late Ann Beneduce, who Eric has always credited the success of his early works. They would go on to work together for the next fifty years.

Bright collage images, imaginative stories, and little details – die cut pages, a firefly’s twinkling lights, a quiet cricket’s song – made Eric’s illustrations uniquely playful. Eric was the recipient of the 2003 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (now called Children’s Literature Legacy Award) and held eight honorary degrees, including from Williams College and Amherst College. He remains an important influence on artists and illustrators at work today.

In 2018, Penguin Young Readers established The World of Eric Carle, an imprint dedicated to Eric’s work. Eric is also published by Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Children’s Books, and Macmillan. In 2020, the World of Eric Carle was the #1 bestselling literary preschool brand, led by The Very Hungry Caterpillar,which was 2020’s 16th bestselling book of the year, and the #1 best-selling board book. Penguin Young Readers continues to publish new books featuring Eric’s iconic and beloved characters and artwork under The World of Eric Carle imprint.

Eric’s career as a creator extended far beyond his beloved children’s books—his independent artwork (or “art art”) is the root of his deeply individual style, reflecting a sense of whimsy, unfettered creativity, and calculated spontaneity. Utilizing materials such as aluminum, silk, glass, including scraps, and objects found in his studio, Eric amassed an extensive body of visual artworks throughout his lifetime including abstract collages, glass sculptures, and works on paper. Part of Eric’s early training as an artist was to treat all the arts, commercial or otherwise, with the same dedication, the same passion, and the same respect.

Eric was a true artist until the end—creating drawings as recently as this spring. Eric’s last drawing series, created in his final years, include several with “50 cents” written onto the image. When asked about this choice, he said that “children should know they too can sell their artwork.” A child at heart, the secret to Eric’s incredible legacy as a creator of picture books lay in his intuitive understanding of young minds—their feelings and their inquisitiveness, their creativity, and their intellectual growth. Besides being beautiful and entertaining, his books always offer children the opportunity to learn something about the world around them and encourage them to engage as artists themselves.