Join us in celebrating Eric Carle and The Very Hungry Caterpillar in 2009!
Check this page regularly as we post resources and events celebrating The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 40th birthday and Eric Carle's 80th birthday this coming year.
Refer a friend during the The Very Hungry Caterpillar Membership Promotion!
Receive a free Family Pass for a friend with each new and renewing Museum membership. If your referred friend joins The Carle, you will each receive a special gift!
Click here for more information about membership at The Carle.
Make a Gift to The Carle in Honor of Eric's Birthday
YOU can help celebrate Eric Carle’s 80th birthday by making a gift to The Carle in honor of this important milestone! Click here to make a gift.
Eric will be notified of your gift which will directly support the important work of The Carle.
Information about contacting Eric Carle
Leave a Greeting for Eric and the Caterpillar
Join friends from around the world in wishing Eric and the Caterpillar a very happy birthday.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
In The West Gallery
80/40: Celebrating the Birthdays of Eric Carle and The Very Hungry Caterpillar
February 10 - September 6, 2009
In celebration of Eric Carle’s 80th Birthday and the 40th Anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the Museum has organized a special exhibition that chronicles both Eric’s life and career. From his childhood art and advertising work to some of the history behind the creation of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the visitor will experience the full spectrum of Eric’s creative genius.
Batches of Butterflies
The Carle invited friends, families, and schools throughout the country and abroad to create their own butterflies to flutter in the Museum. Celebrating the caterpillar, who for 40 years has crept into the hearts of millions of readers through his journey of hope from “a tiny and very hungry caterpillar” to a “beautiful butterfly.”
The butterflies will flutter throughout our Great Hall from March 20 to May 31, 2009.
Send Best Wishes to Eric Carle!
May 8 - August 1, 2009
The Carle invited friends, families, and schools throughout the country and abroad to send best wishes to Eric Carle in celebration of his 80th birthday! Colorful circles decorating giant cake cut-outs are on view in The Museum until August 17th. Birthday wishes will not be returned.
At The Museum
Birthday Bash and Children's Book Festival
with Western Massachusetts Illustrators’ Guild
June 13, 2009
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Free with Museum Admission
Celebrate, connect and create!
In honor of Eric Carle’s 80th birthday and the 25th anniversary of the Western Massachusetts Illustrators' Guild (WMIG), The Carle is hosting a day filled with book-signings, readings, and demonstrations by WMIG artists, hands-on activities in the Art Studio, and special performances by Smithsonian Folkways Children's music recording artist Elizabeth Mitchell. Complimenting the art in the galleries will be an exhibit of original art by some of New England’s favorite illustrators as well as an art sale, silent auction, and raffle. Click here for more information.
This event sponsored by FamilyFun magazine and The Bank of Western Massachusetts.
In The Art Studio
Celebrating Collage
June 17 - July 22, 2009
Free with Museum Admission
The Carle’s Public Art Program
Join in celebrating Eric Carle’s 80th birthday and The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s 40th birthday by creating your own tissue paper collage.
Professional Development Workshop
Eric Carle Tissue Paper Workshop
July 11, 2009
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
$50 (Members $45)
4 PDPs. Explore Carle's paper-painting techniques and how they can be adapted for home or the classroom while creating unique collage papers of one's own. Instructor: Meghan Burch
Registration is required. Please click here for information on how to register by Mail, Phone, or Fax.
Photo by Paul Shoul
At The Museum
Eric Carle Book Signing
August 14, 2010
10:00 am
Free with Museum Admission
A limited number of tickets will be distributed the day of the event. No tickets are available in advance.
Please join us for this special day! Our neighbor Atkins Country Market is providing complimentary award-winning cider donuts and cider while supplies last. Atkins will also be grilling hot dogs and hamburgers in our orchard. Mapleline Farms ice cream truck will be here too!
Museum Members may enter from 9:00 to 9:45 am. General Public and Museum Members arriving after 9:45 am will be allowed entry at 10:00 am on a space available basis.
Signing guidelines:
- Limit 1 book from home and 2 books from the Museum Shop* per ticket holder
- No personalization
- Eric will be signing books only
- No flash photography allowed
While supplies last, receive a specially-designed Eric Carle bookplate with each Eric Carle hardcover book purchased that day in the Museum Shop (above the 3-book-per-person limit). We thank you in advance for your cooperation and look forward to seeing you at The Carle!
Click here to view our FAQ’s about the Meet Eric Carle event.
Get in early! Become a Member and enter at 9:00 am! Click here for more information. Update: You can now purchase a Membership on the 14th to gain entry at 9:00 am for this event.
* Books from the Museum Shop may be purchased the week in advance (8/2-8/13), but a receipt must be presented for the signing.