[LM_NET] Share: The Dark Side of Eric Carle

[edward nizalowski <enizalowski@NVCS.STIER.ORG>]

Newsweek for its March 23rd issue had an enlightening article on Eric
Carle "The Surprising Dark Side of the Very Hungry Caterpillar" (pp.
53-54).  I felt a bit hesitant about reading this piece wondering if
Carle was a reformed drug addict or pedophile, etc.  

 

            In fact it was just some straightforward information about
the man.  It is almost impossible not to have heard about "The Very
Hungry Caterpillar", but being at the high school level I have little
familiarity with his work.

 

            Carle celebrated his 80th birthday this year and was
actually born in Syracuse, NY, to immigrant parents from Germany.  When
he was six, his mother became homesick and they moved back to Stuttgart.
Carle has very vivid memories of the World War II years in Germany.  His
father was drafted into the army.  He developed a special bond with art
teacher, Herr Krauss, who secretly showed him works by Picasso, Matisse
and Braque, all banned by Hitler.  In the days before the surrender, a
Nazi official came to the door and said that Carle would need to report
to railroad station where he would be given a bazooka.  Although he was
excited by this prospect, his mother wouldn't let him leave the house.
Carle's father ended up in a Russian POW camp.  When he finally returned
two and one-half years later, Carle would describe him as an "80 lb.
ghost".

 

            Carle finally made his way back to America in 1952 with $40
and dreams of a brighter future.  He didn't publish his first book until
age 38.  The "dark side" of his work stems from his "lost" childhood in
Germany.  This paragraph sums it up best:

 

            "Carle acknowledges, somewhat obliquely, how much his life
in Germany affected his art.  'With my books,' Carle says, 'I try to
recapture a period I should've had and didn't - for more fun, more
nonsense, more humor.'  But when you know his background it's almost
impossible not to look at this work without seeing echoes from his past.
Despite the colorful hopefulness of his stories, they're suffused with a
sense of loneliness - that solitary caterpillar, making its way in the
world."

 

            Carle makes sure he answers all his fan mail.  He also
spends a great deal of time maintaining the country's first picture
picture-book museum that opened in Amherst, MA, six years ago.

 

Ed Nizalowski, SMS

Newark Valley High School

Newark Valley, NY

enizalowski@nvcs.stier.org

 

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

Frederick Douglass

 

Currently reading Looking for Lucy Buick by Rita Murphy

 

 

 


--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
  You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
  by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, you send a message to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET
2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL
4) SET LM_NET DIGEST

 * LM_NET Help & Information: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/
 * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
 * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/join.html
 * LM_NET Supporters: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/category/links/el-announce/

--------------------------------------------------------------------