A trip to the Eric Carle Museum is my ray of sunshine, my inspiration. Seeing original art illustrations and finding new children’s books gives me joy. This summer visit was wonderful of course, and filled with new discoveries.
The lobby in the museum is wide with floor to ceiling windows on one side and four gigantic murals on the other side, each painted by Eric Carle in a different style and color. I thought a video might give you a sense of the magnitude of this art.
Striking, isn’t it?
There are always three exhibits, and hanging in the lobby is a banner of each exhibit.
The Art of Grace Lin
The Art of Endpapers
Eric Carle and Ann Beneduce
I was excited!
Grace Lin is a well-known children’s author and illustrator. She was one of the first authors to bring diversity and her Chinese culture into books and stories. As always, seeing the real art from beloved children’s books is quite a moving experience.
Endpapers are the illustrations inside the book cover. They are as detailed and fascinating as the text illustrations in the book. I discovered endpapers when I was introducing my preschool children to Eric Carle books back in 2018. As I opened each book to read to the children, I realized the endpapers in every book were different.
Yes, in every book!
That was a huge discovery for me. Thank you, Eric Carle. After that, I paid attention to endpapers in every book. I now make sure I show the endpapers to children when I read books to them.
You can imagine how excited I was to see the Art of Endpapers exhibit!
This is the original endpaper for Blueberries For Sal. Big wow!
This is the original endpaper for
The World of Pooh, by A.A.Milne
illustrated by E.H. Shepard.
I spent a long time looking at this one.
Was I overwhelmed? Yes.
Endpapers have become even more sophisticated, where the opening of the book is ‘the beginning’ and the closing of the book is ‘the end’.
If You Come to Earth, by Sophie Blackall
is a classic and beautiful example,
here to there, or morning to night.
Ryan Higgins’ endpapers in his Penelope Rex books
are actual children’s drawings.
The clothesline goes from the front to the back of the book.
Eric Carle‘s legendary editor and lifelong friend was Ann Beneduce. She was masterful in bringing his books to life. Her recommendations and editing were instrumental in his success. If it hadn’t been for Ann, The Very Hungary Caterpillar might have remained as Willie the Worm.
Seeing The Very Hungry Caterpillar
never gets old.
House For Hermit Crab
is a book I often read to children.
Seeing these illustrations was a marvel for me.
While the exhibit had many of Eric Carle’s illustrations, I was struck by his art with acrylic painted aluminum foil. It was beautiful! I was nearly nose-to-nose, staring.
Can you imagine a visit to a museum where everything is familiar, yet new and exciting? If you are an art lover or a children’s book lover, this is THE museum.
Jennie
It’s impossible to walk the grounds
Tah-Da!
A Teacher's Reflections 