Shop Talk

Each year, The Carle awards individuals and organizations who have shown long-term dedication to the world of picture books, art and literacy. The awards are given in four forms: Artist, for lifelong innovation in the field; Angel, whose generous financial support is crucial to making picture book art exhibitions, education programs and related projects a reality; Mentor, editors, designers, and educators who champion the art form; and Bridge, individuals who have found inspired ways to bring the art of the picture boo to larger audiences through work in other fields.

We are so excited to announce that this year’s honorees are:

Artist: Lois Ehlert

Lois Ehlert is an award-winning author and illustrator of numerous picture books, including the best-seller Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, written by Bill Martin, Jr. and Color Zoo, which won her a Caldecott Honor in 1989. Lois Ehlert is well known for using bright, vivid colors in an unique multimedia collage illustration style. Many of her picture books are excellent and entertaining tools for introducing young children to concepts such as color and shape. I love Ehlert’s dedication to creating books about nature and the natural world. My favorite books are Planting a Rainbow and Eating the Alphabet, which are my go-to books for baby showers and gift giving. Elhert acknowledges the influence of her creative parents in her book, Hands: growing up to be an artist. Uniting a love of sewing, gardening, woodworking, Ehlert shows that creativity (in whatever form) lies within us all.

Angel: Jeanne Steig

Jeanne Steig is the author of several books for children, including my personal favorite, Alpha Beta Chowder, a collaboration with her late husband, picture book author/illustrator and New Yorker cartoonist, William Steig. Jeanne, a multimedia artist herself, has been the gracious donor of the William Steig picture book art archive to The Carle’s permanent collection.

Mentor: Michael di Capua

Michael di Capua has been an editor and art director of children’s books for more than 40 years. Starting as an editor at Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, Michael has worked with children’s book legends such as Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Norton Juster and Natalie Babbitt, among many, many others. Micahel’s imprint, Michael di Capua Books, has published exceptional children’s books since 1987.

Bridge: Karen Nelson Hoyle

Karen is a professor and curator of the Children’s Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota. The collections include 100,000 children’s books as well as original manuscripts and artwork from more than 12,000 children’s books. Here’s a wonderful interview online with Karen about the university’s amazing collection.

All honorees will be feted at New York City’s Guastavino’s on Thursday, September 22, 2011. We can’t wait!

For more about past Carle Honors celebrations, including past recipients click here or read my blogs posts from last year here and here.

Tags: Carle Honors, Jeanne Steig, Karen Nelson Hoyle, Kerlan Collection, Lois Ehlert, Michael di Capua, William Steig

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 10th, 2011 at 3:44 pm and is filed under Carle Museum Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.