Carle, Eric

Carle, Eric,

1929–, American children's book author and illustrator, b. Syracuse, N.Y. He attended the Academy of Applied Arts, Stuttgart, Germany, then worked as a graphic designer in New York City. Struck by a collage of a lobster that Carle had done for an advertisement, author Bill Martin, Jr., asked him to illustrate his Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967), the first of several such books on which they collaborated. Working with tissue-paper collage and bright acrylic paints, Carle often features small animals in his books, such as his most popular The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969). In 2002 Carle and his wife, Barbara, opened the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass.