Esau Andrade Valencia
He Dreamed of Pigs From Iowa, 2007
A Perfect Season for Dreaming – Un tiempo Perfecto Para Sonar by Benjamin Allire Saenz

After a long and snowy New England Winter, the bright colors of spring are a welcome change! Nothing suits the vibrancy and brightness of springbetter than our newest exhibition,Latino Folk Tales: Cuentos Populares-Art by Latino Artists, curated by Sylvia Nissley. If you haven’t seen it yet, the exhibition will be up until June 9th, and it is a wonderful and colorful celebration of Latino folklore and fairy tales as retold and illustrated by many celebrated Latino picture book artists, such as Raul Colón and Lulu Delacre. Click here to preview more images from this exhibition.

We’d had a lot of fun in The Carle Bookshop showcasing not only the books featured in this exhibition, but also a wide selection of other picture books celebrating Latino culture and history. We’re taken this opportunity to boost our bilingual and Spanish language books even more so that we carry not only all available Eric Carle books in Spanish, but a good deal of other classics, such as Abran paso a los patitos (Make Way for Ducklings), La Senorita Runfio (Miss Rumphius) and Harold y el Lapiz Color Morado (Harold and the Purple Crayon).

Here’s a peek at our current front window display.

In addition to the books in our display, we added some beautiful tissue paper flowers. You can easily make these at home, either from colored tissue you may have left over from gift wrapping or with these easy flower-making kits that we sell in the Shop. We have a whole variety of kits in different color combinations and to make our flowers, we mixed and matched different kits to make even more varieties of flowers. They’re so cheery and make not only a great activity with kids, but wonderful decorations for any kind of party this summer!

I also made a papel picado-inspired banner for the top of the front window as well.

You can easily make one at home by using tissue paper and scissors. I wanted mine to be a bit more durable since it was going to hang for the duration of the Latino Folk Tales exhibition, so I made this one out of a colorful assortment of cardstock. Instead of sitting for hours with an x-acto knife, I used decorative paper punches in repeated patterns to quickly and easily make the designs. Then I strung it on some bright ribbon like a banner and hung it up.

This Sunday, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, our Art Studio will be hosting a special and colorful art activity from 1 pm-4 pm. If you can’t make it to The Carle this weekend, why not try making your own festive banner or paper flowers? Here’s a link with other easy papel picado banners for inspiration. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

In fact, come to The Carle  this Sunday, April 28th and you can help us kick-off Screen-Free Week with a bang! Illustrators Chris Raschka, Tad Hills, Bob Staake, and Dan Yaccarino will be here chatting with Jarrett J. Krosoczka in our auditorium about their books, their art and how they like to unplug.  Art activities and a book signing will follow. Special thanks to Random House Children’s Books for bringing these five fabulous picture book creators to The Carle!

Check out their new books below, perfect for reading together on a screen-free day!

Everyone Can learn To Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka  (Schwartz & Wade, 2013)

 

Bluebird by Bob Staake (Schwartz & Wade, 2013)

Doug Unplugged by Dan Yaccarino (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2013)

Duck and Goose: Goose Needs a Hug by Tad Hills (Schwartz & Wade, 2013)

Lunch Lady and the Video Game Villain: Lunch Lady #9 by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2013)

Here are some of our favorite ways to unplug. What are yours? Share your favorite screen-free activities with us in the comments below.

• Visit The Carle (of course!) or other screen-free museums
• Go to the library and check out some new books
• Go for a bike ride
• Play a board game with friends
• Create an art project or write an original story
• Try out a new, delicious recipe
• Explore the neighborhood
• Go for a hike in the woods
• Have a picnic
• Listen to music and dance!

Chinese

Arabic

Urdu

Vietnamese

French

Russian

Spanish

Here’s a complete list of all the many language translations of the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Happy Very Hungry Caterpillar Day! Join in the celebrations today by sharing this classic with someone special.

Annual Pancake Breakfast Celebrating Very Hungry Caterpillar Day
(Members-Only event)
Sunday, March 17, 2013
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
First Seating – 9:00 am
Second Seating – 10:15 am ETA: Now full!
Free to members, but space is limited. Reserve early at membership@carlemuseum.org.

Celebration of the 2013 Very Hungry Caterpillar Day
Sunday,March 17, 2013
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Free with Museum Admission
Celebrate The Caterpillar’s special day with us!
Join us for special story times, films, art activities and a visit from The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Plus Museum Shop sale – 15% off all caterpillar-related books and toys!

12:30 pm – The Very Hungry Caterpillar Film
1:00 pm – Meet the Caterpillar
1:30 pm – Storytime
2:30 pm – Picture Writer: The Art of Picture Books Film
3:00 pm – Meet the Caterpillar
3:30 pm – Storytime
4:00 pm – The Very Hungry Caterpillar Film

There will be fun all-day art activities and all children will receive Butterfly temporary tattoos. Bring your camera!

If you can’t make it to the museum consider participating in our friendly competition by  creating your own version of the Very Hungry Caterpillar using found materials and submitting a photo of your creation.  Winners will win an original doodle by Eric Carle and more! Check out the details here: http://www.carlemuseum.org/studioblog/?p=2677

Today we’re also giving away a very soft and plushy Caterpillar to one lucky blog reader. To win, leave a comment below BEFORE 12 pm EST Saturday, March 16th. Tell us, If you were to invite The Very Hungry Caterpillar over for a birthday dinner celebration, what would you prepare for him?  Good luck and we’re announcing the winner on Sunday, March 17th.

Just when we start to think springtime thoughts, Mother Nature reminds us that we live in unpredictable New England! While we enjoy these last snowy days of winter, we thought you might like some snow day reading recommendations. Sometimes it’s nice to remind yourself that even if you’re already thinking of tulips and budding trees, a snow day can be A LOT OF FUN too! Below are some picture books that you may have missed that perfectly capture the joy of a romp in the snow.

Red Sled by Lita Judge (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011)
“At night, a host of woodland creatures plays with a child’s red sled.”

Red Sled by Patricia Thomas illustrated by Chris L. Demarest (Boyds Mills Press, 2008)
“A boy and his father lift one another’s spirits by going sledding on a winter’s night.”

Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman, illustrated by Liza Woodruff (Sterling, 2010)
“Animals fall off a speeding sled one by one until only a lonely caribou is left, chasing a giant snowball that has engulfed the falling animals.”

This Place in the Snow by Rebecca Bond (Dutton Children’s Books, 2004)
“After a night of silent snowfall, people awaken to the sound of a plow making a huge snow mound, which they work together to transform into a very special place where they all can play.”

Snow Day!  By Patricia Lakin, illustrated by Scott Nash (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2002)
“Four crocodile friends enjoy a snowy day of sledding.”

Snow! Snow! Snow! By Lee Harper (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2009)
“A father and his two sons spend a perfect day sledding together.”

Snow Day for Mouse By Judy Cox, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler (Holiday House, 2012)
“On a snowy day, Mouse is swept outside where he plays in the snow, ice skates on a frozen puddle, and makes sure his friends the birds get something to eat.”

A Perfect Day by Carin Berger (Greenwillow Books, 2012)
“Young friends enjoy a day of sledding, snowball fights, and ice skating one snowy day in their hillside village.”

The Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Rider Ever!  By Rebecca Rule, illustrated by Jennifer Thermes (Islandport Press, 2012)
“Seven children work together to navigate their way up a steep, icy hill so that they can enjoy an exciting sled ride.”

Winter Eyes By Douglas Florian (Greenwillow Books, 1999)
“A collection of poems about winter, including “Sled,” “Icicles,” and “Ice Fishing.”.”

What are your favorite books about playing in the snow?

We’re hosting the ultimate picture book jam fest here at The Carle this Saturday, March 9th. Author/Illustrators Jarrett J. Krosoczka and Jef Czekaj will be here for a performance that combines punk music, drawing and rapping into one epic book reading. The authors will sign copies of their books outside the Shop after, as well as encourage budding artists to try their own drawing in the Art Studio. The event is free with Museum admission and starts at 1:00 pm. See you then! Rock on!

Jef Czekaj is a cartoonist, author, illustrator and musician. His books include Hip and Hop, Don’t Stop!, Cat Secrets, The Circulatory Story and Yes, Yes, Yaul!

Jarrett J. Krosoczka has authored and illustrated eighteen books including Good Night, Monkey Boy, the Punk Farm series and the Lunch Lady series.

Twelve Kinds of Ice byEllen Bryan Obed, illustrated by Barbara McClintock (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

This beautiful book is about the size of a grown-up’s mitten. Short chapters with lots of black and white illustrations follow a family through a winter in which skating is central to peoples’ joy. The children in the narrator’s family unite around anticipation and memories of skating, while neighbors join them to skate in the yard a father carefully floods and tends, with the children’s help. We see people who live close to nature, with the emphasis on its pleasures. Few could read this book and not take a keener interest in varieties of ice, and want to skate. All will be glad to spend a short time with the people met here — gliding over frozen fields, through pastures, across a pond, and the flooded garden turned rink, after homework was finished, in the moonlight. The text is poetic and Barbara McClintock’s drawings are full of movement, grace and the charm of a particular time and place.

The Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever! (Islandport Press, 2012)

February 22, 2013 at 2:30 pm, free with Museum Admission
Thrill to the tale of a great sledding adventure as author Rebecca Rule reads from her latest book, The Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever! Rebecca will be joined by artist Jennifer Thermes who will share sketches and art from the book, and demonstrate how an illustrator creates pictures to tell a story.  Q and A and book signing to follow.

Rebecca Rule is the author of Live Free and Eat Pie! and Headin’ for the Rhubarb: A New Hampshire Dictionary (well, kinda).  She is also the author of three short story collections about New Hampshire, including Teh Best Revenge, named Outstanding Work of Fiction by the New Hampshire Writer’s Project.  Rule is best known for her live storytelling events, many sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  She chronicles many of these events, and her encounters with people and language, in her blog.  “Travels with Becky,” which can be found at www.livefreeandeatpie.com.  A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, she taught writing classes there for a number of years.  She has lived in New Hampshire all her life (so far).  She lives in Northwood with her husband, John Rule, their wire fox terrier, Bob and various other dogs, cats and birds.  www.rebeccarulenh.com/books

Jennifer Thermes is a children’s book author and illustrator whose books include Maggie & Oliver, or A Bone of One’s Own (written by Valerie Hobbs), Sam Bennett’s New Shoes and When I Was Built.  In addition to being an avid reader, an obsessed gardener, and an adorer of cats, Thermes also creates illustrated maps for publishing and magazine clients.  She lives in an old farmhouse in Newtown, Connecticut, with her family, two cats, one dog and countless mice.  www.jenniferthermes.com

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems (Balzer + Bray, 2012)

Goldilocks by Ruth Sanderson (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009)

The Goldilocks Variations by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg (Candlewick Press, 2009)

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by James Marshall (Penguin, 1998)

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Jim Aylesworth, illustrated by Barbara McClintock (Scholastic Press, 2003)

Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson (Nosy Crow/Candlewick Press, 2012)

We’d love to have you come visit the museum and see the show this week. Maybe your kids are on school vacation and need a fun activity? Here’s your chance to win four tickets to the Goldilocks performance and a Family Pass (good for two adults and up to four children) to The Carle.

How to enter:
Use your creativity to adapt the Goldilocks fairytale by posting the title of your adaptation in a comment below: Goldilocks and the ____________.  (Example: Goldilocks and the Three Elephants or Goldilocks and the Case of the Three Empty Bowls). Use your imagination! What kind of Goldilocks story would YOU like to read? Leave your comment BEFORE midnight EST Sunday, February 17, 2013. One winner will be chosen at random and announced on Monday, February 18th.

We hope that the winner will be able to come and enjoy the show during one of their many performances next week, but even if you live far away, you can still enter to win for a free pass to visit The Carle sometime within the year. Here are the details about the performance.
Goldilocks & the Three Bears: An Epic
February 19 – February 22, 2013
11:00 am and 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm
$6 (Members $5)
So you think you know this tale? Think again! In this epic adaptation written by Jack Neary, there’s a lot more in store for Goldy, our little blond curiosity seeker, than three bears, some chairs, and bowls of breakfast food. Some annoying neighborhood kids, a pack of crazy Wolfettes, a fourth bear named Uncle Chester who may not be a bear at all, Little Red Riding Hood and even Rapunzel join forces to create an adventure for the ages! Poor Goldy! All she wanted was to take a nice little walk in the forest. Goldilocks & The Three Bears: An Epic is a show for the whole family to enjoy!

Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Museum Admissions Desk or by calling (413) 658-1126.

Comments now closed. Congratulations to the winner, Amanda! We’ll be in touch. Thanks everyone for playing. Such fun Goldilocks variations ideas!

Happy Valentine’s Day from The Carle. We’re loving these sweet Eric Carle love-inspired canvas art prints! Tell us about something (or someone) you love today. Here’s a list of our favorite Valentine-themed books.