Eric Carle, the famed author and illustrator of over 70 picture books published over the past five decades, has passed away.
Carle was 91 when he died on Sunday, May 23, as reported by NPR. His family posted a memorial on his official website, sharing his art with the lines, "In the light of the moon, holding on to a good star, a painter of rainbowsis now traveling across the night sky."
Generations of children have grown up with Carle's work, which includes the classics The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Nature and pastoral themes featured prominently in his stories, with universal messages directed at young children through simplistic language.
The artistic style of Carle's illustrations is immediately recognizable to many readers, with its bright colors and the tissue-painting technique that he often used. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which epitomizes this style, tells the story of a caterpillar eating his way through all kinds of foods, each of which is depicted in the illustrations and counted by the text to help young readers learn numbers and new words. In the end, of course, the hungry caterpillar has eaten enough to begin its transformation into a butterfly.
Carle called the story a "book of hope," revealing the meaning beneath its surface. "You, little insignificant caterpillar, can grow up into a beautiful butterfly and fly into the world with your talent," he said. "Will I ever be able to do that? Yes, you will. I think that is the appeal of that book." Since its publication in 1969, The Very Hungry Caterpillar has become one of the most popular children's books of all time.
Source: NPR
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