Characters & Setting
The main characters in most of Eric Carle's books happen to be animals or insects and the settings mostly take place in nature. He believes that this influence comes from his father. When he was a child he and his father often took walks in the woods. On these walks they would look, observe and enjoy nature. His father would pick out a specific animal or insect they saw and describe how they live and grow. These memories seem to come out in his books such as, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."
Growth & Discovery
In many of Eric Carle's books his main characters go through a period of growth which is often the effect of discovery. For example, In "The Grouchy Ladybug," the ladybug goes through a form of growth in a sense because he goes from being mean and wanting to fight everyone, to being thankful and kind in the end. This only happens after he goes through a 'discovery', or an adventure, of meeting all different kinds of animals that are much bigger than he. Another example of discovery can be found in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", where the caterpillar discovers that if you eat too much food, you will get a tummy ache. The caterpillar also goes through physical growth as he transforms from a caterpillar into a butterfly.
"Very"
Eric Carle has many books that have the word 'Very" in the title. Such as:
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969)
- The Very Long Tail (1972)
- The Very Long Train (1972)
- My Very First Book of Numbers (1974)
- My Very First Book of Colors (1974)
- My Very First Book of Shapes (1974)
- My Very First Book of Words (1974)
-The Very Busy Spider (1984)
- My Very First Book of Sounds (1986)
- My Very First Book of Food (1986)
- My Very First Book of Tools (1986)
- My Very First Book of Touch (1986)
-My Very First Book of Motion (1986)
- My Very First Book of Growth (1986)
- My Very First Book of Homes (1986)
- My Very First Book of Heads (1986)
- The Very Quiet Cricket (1990)
- The Very Lonely Firefly (1995)
- The Very Clumsy Click Beetle (1999)
Eric Carle has used the word 'very' as a trademark and to add emphasis.
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969)
- The Very Long Tail (1972)
- The Very Long Train (1972)
- My Very First Book of Numbers (1974)
- My Very First Book of Colors (1974)
- My Very First Book of Shapes (1974)
- My Very First Book of Words (1974)
-The Very Busy Spider (1984)
- My Very First Book of Sounds (1986)
- My Very First Book of Food (1986)
- My Very First Book of Tools (1986)
- My Very First Book of Touch (1986)
-My Very First Book of Motion (1986)
- My Very First Book of Growth (1986)
- My Very First Book of Homes (1986)
- My Very First Book of Heads (1986)
- The Very Quiet Cricket (1990)
- The Very Lonely Firefly (1995)
- The Very Clumsy Click Beetle (1999)
Eric Carle has used the word 'very' as a trademark and to add emphasis.
Book Structure
The books Eric Carle has created are often set up a little differently than your traditional book. Some say his books are 'half toy, half book" because books like "The Very Lonely Firefly" light up, and "The Very Quiet Cricket" makes cricket noises. He also does techniques with different sized pages. For example, in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" the page starts off very little when he starts eating, but as he eats more and more the pages begin to get bigger. He also uses a similar technique in "The Grouchy Ladybug" when the whale flips his tail, he uses a short page to demonstrate the flip.
Artwork/Illustrations
Eric Carle illustrated all of his books and he uses the same technique in his artwork. He paints tissue paper that he paints and then layers different shades of the same color to add a different dimension to the piece. He often uses burlap, sponges, or his fingertips to add texture to the paint. His artwork is instantly recognizable and children love the use of colors and textures.
Imagery and Word Choice
Eric Carle uses very descriptive words in his writings to paint a picture with words. He uses a lot of adjectives such as warm and little,or phrases like "in the light of the moon", and "one nice green leaf". As stated above he uses very to add emphasis on an adjective. He often uses repetition in his books as well such as, "Hey you, wanna fight?" and ,"but he was still hungry".