The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art was founded by Eric Carle and his wife Barbara "Bobbie" Carle in 2002. Inspired by museums in Japan that displayed picture book artwork, the couple wanted to created a museum that honored children's literature and artwork. Along with introducing children to literature, Eric Carle wanted the Museum to “Introduce our youngest guests, so new to museums, to the joys of looking at art.” The Museum contains three art galleries, an art studio, a theater, and a picture book library. Its permanent collection consists of 8,500 illustrations by more than 200 artists. The Museum an its traveling exhibits provide museum goers with hundreds of programs a year.

Eric Carle is remembered for his work as a children's book author and illustrator. He was born in Syracuse, New York on June 25th, 1929 to german immigrants Erich and Johanna. In interviews, he recalled his childhood in America with fondness. However, when he was six years old his maternal grandmother convinced his homesick mother to return to Germany. The family relocated to Stuttgart, Germany in 1934. Carle didn't like being in Germany and often asked his mother when they would return to America. Five years after their move, Germany invaded Poland. Carle's life changed dramatically due to the war. He once recalled wading in a river when he was fired upon by a gunner from a plane. When he was 15, he was conscripted to dig trenches on the Siegfried line - and experience his second wife believed gave him PTSD. When Carle was ten years old, his father Erich was conscripted into the Wehrmacht, the German army. Erich was captured in Russia and held prisoner. He didn't return home until 1947 when Carle was eighteen. Recalling his father's return home, Carle described Erich as "this sick man. Psychologically, physically devastated." Erich was just 85 pounds when he came home and, despite their deep connection before the war, he and Carle no longer had a relationship upon his return. Carle viewed his father as "this old man, coming from Russia, we got along without you."

Growing up, Carle's father read him the comics in the newspaper, drew pictures, and took him for walks through nature. He was one of Carle's early artistic influences along with his art teacher Herr Krauss. Herr Krauss introduced him to artists who had been banned in Germany during the war such as Picasso, Klee, and Kandinsky. Carle went on to study art at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Stuttgart after the war. Carle had always longed to return to America and did so when he was 23. He moved back to New York City and got a job in the promotion department at the New York Times. Five months after his return to America, he reluctantly found himself back in Germany following his conscription into the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was stationed in Germany due to his German language abilities. In the early 1960s, Carle was back in New York City working as an illustrator for an agency that specialized in pharmaceutical advertising. After a while, he became disillusioned with the corporate world and began working as a freelance graphic designer.

In the late 1960s, Bill Martin Jr. discovered Eric Carle through one of the advertisements he illustrated for a pharmaceutical company. Martin chose Carle to illustrate his children's book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? which was published in 1967. This was an experience Carle claimed changed his life; it began his successful career in children's literature. He created his first solo children's book in 1968 entitled 1, 2, 3, to the Zoo. Carle's most famous book was the third one he created entitled The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Following the success of this book, he devoted himself and his time entirely to creating children's books. He is remembered today for his colorful artistic style and collages. He claimed that his childhood, marred by the dreary and depressing setting of wartime Germany, inspired him to create colorful artwork.

Carle had met his first wife Dorothea in Germany and they had two children, Cirsten and Rolf, together. They eventually got divorced and Carle married his second wife Barbara "Bobbie" Morrison, an early childhood educator, in 1973. In 1974, the couple moved to Western Massachusetts and settle in Northampton. The two of them were inspired by museums in Japan that honored artwork in children's literature and founded the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (known colloquially as "The Carle") in November 2002. In a quote attributed to the both of them, the Carles said of the project: "It has been our dream to build a museum for children and families, teachers and librarians, scholars and everyone interested in the art of the picture book—a museum to delight, entertain, surprise, and educate." They chose the site of an old orchard on the Hampshire college campus and the museum was designed by the architect Earl Pope. Bobbie died in 2015 and Eric Carle died in 2021 of kidney failure.

About Eric Carle, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Accessed December 3rd, 2022. https://www.carlemuseum.org/about/about-eric-carle.

Brockes, Emma. This One's Got Legs, The Guardian. March 13th, 2009. Accessed December 3rd, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/14/eric-carle-author.

Carmel, Julia. Eric Carle, Author of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar,’ Dies at 91, The New York Times. May 26th, 2021. Accessed December 3rd, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/books/eric-carle-dead.html#:~:text=Eric%20Carle%2C%20the%20artist%20and,the%20cause%20was%20kidney%20failure..

Williams, Sally. Eric Carle: The very busy illustrator, Independent. May 27th, 2021. Accessed December 3rd, 2022. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/eric-carle-books-caterpillar-interview-b1854661.html.