Eric Carle

Tonight I read M one of Eric Carle's board books The Very Quiet Cricket. The story is about a little cricket trying to say something to each of the insects he meets. It isn't until the very end when he meets another cricket that he is able to rub his wings together to make his beautiful sound. The board book has a cricket chirp on the last page, and the boys always anticipate the ending.

We love Eric Carle's books in this house. Both boys had their earliest reading experiences with the book The Very Busy Spider. When T was younger than 3 months I would read it to him. This is the book that taught them all of their basic farm animal names and sounds. The board book version is extra nice because of the raised web on each of the pages. The boys loved to touch it and see it grow as the story ends. The Very Hungry Caterpillar board book is one that M brings to us often to read. He loves to stick his fingers into the holes in the fruit. This is a great book to introduce simple counting, colors, and fruit names. From Head to Toe taught them their body parts and the boys loved trying to move their bodies like the characters in the book. I remember M would clap his hands so enthusiastically when we got to the hand clap page. Then of course they loved Panda Bear What do you See? and Polar Bear Polar Bear What do you Hear? These books as well as many of Carle's books use lots of repetition, and children can easily predict and remember what comes next so that they can "read" with you. I often would read to T and then pause at the end of a line and let him finish the sentence for me.

I personally love his illustrations. They are bright, colorful, and visually stimulating. I once watched an interview on PBS of him working in his studio. He explained his technique which utilizes tissue paper that he colors by hand and then cuts into the shapes to create a color collage.
One of the things I would like to do this summer is visit his museum.