Eric+Carle

Eric Carle is one of my favorite authors. His books and illustrations are simply delightful. In this author study, you'll find biographical information about Eric Carle; a list of his most popular works; and lessons and activities incorporating his works. First, it is always important to have students check out the author’s website: []. **A Bridge to America** Eric Carle was born in Syracuse, New York, to German immigrants. When Eric was six, he and his parents moved back to Germany. Eric hated the strict discipline of his new German school. Sad and confused, Eric longed to return to America. "When it became apparent that we would not return, I decided that I would become a bridge builder. I would build a bridge from Germany to America and take my beloved German grandmother by the hand across the wide ocean." It would be seventeen years before Eric returned. In a sense, this difficult period was a great source of inspiration for Eric's later books. As an artist, Eric strives to help children enjoy school more than he did. He says, "I am fascinated by the period in a child's life when he or she, for the first time, leaves home to go to school. I should like my books to bridge that great divide." **Learning to Love Nature** Growing up, Eric loved to walk through the woods with his father. He fondly recalls, "He'd turn over a rock and show me the little creatures that scurried and slithered about." On these walks, filled with stories and discovery, Eric learned to love nature. Giving us another clue to where he finds his ideas, Eric says, "I try to recall that feeling when I write my books." Sometimes ideas for Eric's books came from just fooling around. At least that's how he describes the inception of //The Very Hungry Caterpillar//. "I playfully punched a hole into a stack of papers. I thought, a bookworm at work! Not enough for a book, but, nevertheless, a beginning." Eventually, Eric submitted his story about the bookworm, who had been changed to a green worm named Willy. His editor liked the idea — almost. She asked, "How about a caterpillar?" And so Eric Carle's most famous book was born. **A Famous "Mistake"** By the way, Eric already knows that a caterpillar emerges from a chrysalis, not a cocoon! So don't bother writing to tell him. Eric explains how the famous "mistake" crept into the book: "My editor contacted a scientist, who said that it was permissible to use the word cocoon. Poetry over science. It simply would not have worked to say, 'Come out of your chrysalis!' If we can accept giants tied down by dwarfs, genies in bottles, and knights who attack windmills, why can't a caterpillar come out of a cocoon?" The most important part of developing a book, Eric believes, is working with editors to revise it. He says, "You have doubts. You hate it. You love it. You discuss it with your editors. You change it. Finally, at one point you just know it's right. After that it goes very quickly. The art for //The Tiny Seed// took only two weeks!" **Winding up the Thinking Machine** And so, where do ideas come from? Eric likes the answer that his Uncle August used to give. "I'd say, 'Uncle August, tell me a story.' Peering over his glasses he'd say, 'First you have to wind up my thinking machine.' And, as I had done many times before, I began to wind an imaginary lever near his temple. After a little while, all along he had made whirring noises, he shouted, 'Halt! I have a story for you!'" Eric says, "I like my Uncle August’s answer to where stories come from. They come from your thinking machine. All you have to do is wind it up." Essential Questions:
 * Author Study: Eric Carle **
 * Biography from Scholastic: **
 * Books written and/or illustrated by Eric Carle: **
 * //Animals, Animals// (Scholastic, 1989).
 * //Brown Bear, Brown Bear// by Bill Martin, Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle. (Henry Holt,1992).
 * //Do You Want to Be My Friend?// (Thomas Y. Crowell, 1971).
 * //Draw Me A Star// (Scholastic, 1992).
 * //Eric Carle's Dragons & Other Creatures That Never Were// Compiled by Laura Whipple (Philomel, 1991).
 * //Eric Carle's Treasury of Classic Stories for Children// (1988).
 * //The Foolish Tortoise//, written by Richard Buckley, illustrated by Eric Carle (Scholastic, 1985).
 * //The Grouchy Ladybug// (Scholastic, 1977).
 * //Have You Seen My Cat?// (Scholastic, 1987).
 * //The Hole In The Dike// retold by Norma Green, illustrated by Eric Carle. (Scholastic, 1974).
 * //A House for Hermit Crab// (Picture Book Studio, 1987).
 * //The Honeybee and the Robber// (Scholastic, 1981).
 * //The Mixed-Up Chameleon// (Scholastic, 1989).
 * //1, 2, 3 to the Zoo// (The Trumpet Club, 1991).
 * //Pancakes, Pancakes// (Scholastic, 1990).
 * //Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me// (Picture Book Studio, 1986).
 * //Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?// (Scholastic, Inc., 1991).
 * //Rooster's Off to See the World// (Scholastic, Inc., 1972).
 * //The Secret Birthday Message// (Thomas Y. Crowell, 1972).
 * //The Tiny Seed// (Scholastic, 1987).
 * //Today is Monday// (Philomel, 1993).
 * //The Very Busy Spider// (1984);
 * //The Very Hungry Caterpillar// (Scholastic, 1987); //The Very Quiet Cricket// (Scholastic, 1990).
 * //What's For Lunch?// (Philomel, 1982).
 * 1) What are the commonalities in the author’s books?
 * 2) Can the author’s style of illustration be recognized?
 * 3) Do the books of the author inspire creative writing?

** Content ** || ** Skills ** || ** Activities ** || ** Assessments ** || · A House for a Hermit Crab

· The Grouchy Ladybug

· Rooster Off to See the World

· The Very Hungry Caterpillar

· The Mixed Up Chameleon || · Shared writing activity

· Retelling

· After reading the story, the children will solve a variety of math problems including, “How many animals went on the journey?” and “If they had met more animals how many animals would they meet next?”

· Create a slideshow using Kid Pix Creepy Crawlers

· A class book titled “The Mixed Up Students” will be made from the original || · Decide on a new animal, setting and problem

· Write or draw the events of the story on index cards marked with the different times. Line up on a chalkboard

· Graph the number of each animal and solve word problems about the animals.

· Slideshow will include a cover, three pages of healthy meals for the caterpillar and an end page.

· After reading the story, students will choose an animal they would like to be and use the story frame: I wish I had the _____ of a ______. I would Live______. I would eat _______. Students will draw a picture for the story using a photograph of their face for the head. || ·  Students will draw pictures and label the beginning, middle, and end of a story

· Students will be able to identify through pictures or words the characters, setting and plot of a story.

· Students are able to make predictions for a story. ||

Read “Draw Me A Star.” Eric Carle prepares his own colored tissue papers to use for his illustrations. He is able to produce different textures by using various brushes to splash, spatter and fingerpaint acrylic paints onto thin tissue papers. These colored tissue papers are then used to produce the lively colorful illustrations seen in his books. Eric Carle cuts or tears the colored tissue paper into shapes as needed and they are glued onto white illustration board. Some areas of his designs, however, are painted directly on the board before the bits of tissue paper are applied to make the collage illustrations. The art is then scanned by laser and separated into four colors for reproduction on sheet-fed offset printing presses. Using similar techniques, you can have your students make their own colored tissue paper to use later to illustrate stories they have written, just like Eric Carle. Shower curtain liner, white construction paper, tissue paper of various colors, paint, glue, and paint brushes 1. Before beginning the project, discuss with your students what color papers they will need to make for their particular end-product: a class mural. 2. After generating a list of shades, such as red, orange, reddish orange, black, gray, brown, brownish red, etc., students decide how many sheets of each shade they will need to blend to achieve the color effect they want. 3. Working in groups of two or three, children can select a color they would like to make. Encourage them to keep track of the colors that are being produced to ensure enough of each color are made. 4. The children will need to paint the liquid glue onto the white construction paper and then glue down a sheet of tissue paper. 5. When the tissue paper has dried each child can paint different textures on the paper. It may be necessary to allow the paint to dry in between colors or textures. 6. When all the students have finished creating their own papers create a “class mural” on the bulletin board. Author Study Home
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