Children's book author Eric Carle was born on this day in 1929.
Event Description
Eric Carle, born in Syracuse, New York, in 1929, has illustrated more than 60 books. One of his most beloved books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has been translated into more than 25 languages and has sold more than 12 million copies.
Classroom Activity
Eric Carle's illustrations feature paper collages, so after reading some of Carle's books you might create your own torn paper collages. Or if you're ready for more of a challenge, try creating Word Collages. Have students choose a scene, an emotion, an animal, or a person. Then students search out or create words, phrases, and sentences that illustrate what they've chosen. Words can be cut out of newspapers or magazines, created on a computer using a drawing program or the art tool in a word processing program, or drawn with markers or crayons. Assembled on a sheet of paper using glue or tape, the words should remind the reader of the scene, emotion, animal, or person that the student has chosen.
Websites
Eric Carle's own website includes information on all of Carle's books, upcoming events, forthcoming publications, and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.
Devoted to national and international picture book art, this museum emphasizes ways of combining visual and virtual literacy. The virtual tour provides great visuals, which could be a springboard for language or visual arts projects.
Scholastic's Eric Carle Author Study includes information from an interview with Carle, background information, a bibliography, and a variety of classroom activities using several Carle books for art, science, math, social studies, and writing connections.
The National Gallery of Art offers this interactive tool for creating collages. Letters, numbers, signs, and shapes comprise the images available for use in the collage.