Stars of the Book World Celebrate Eric Carle Honorees
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By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 9/29/2009
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art threw a star-studded event in New York on September 24 to honor artist Alice Provensen, celebrated editor Walter Lorraine, Cricket magazine founders Marianne and Blouke Carus, and the cofounder and president of First Book, Kyle Zimmer, all of whom represent four distinct
Eric Carle and the Very Hungry Caterpillar cake
forms of “creative vision and long-term dedication to the art of the picture book and its vital role in supporting art appreciation, early literacy, and critical thinking.”
Vera B. Williams, David Wiesner, Chris Van Allsburg, and Jerry Pinkney were just some of the more than 200 guests who showed up for the event, which took place at a midtown Manhattan loft.
In presenting the award to the 91-year-old Provensen, author/illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky said the work of husband and wife team Alice and Martin Provensen in Margaret Wise Brown’s The Color Kittens by (Golden, 1949) inspired him to choose his career path.
Starting in 1947, the Provensens created numerous picture books, including the 1982 Caldecott Honor book, A Visit to William Blake’s Inn (Harcourt), one of only two books to ever nab both a Caldecott Honor and the Newbery Award. In 1984, the couple also won the Caldecott Medal for The Glorious Flight (Viking, 1983), which depicts the first solo flight across the English Channel by aviator Louis Bleriot.
After Martin’s death in 1987, Provensen said she wasn’t sure she could continue working without him, but, encouraged by her editor, Provensen continued to write and illustrate more books, including The Buck Stops Here (Harcourt, 1997), about the presidency.
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Alice Provensen (left) with scholarship winner Suzanne Shearman, a school librarian from Brockport, NY |
Wiesner, who introduced the Carus, told how the Cricket magazine founders hired him to illustrate for Cricket, a magazine that publishes excellent stories, articles, and poems that instill a love of reading.
Lyle, the Crocodile (Houghton, 1965) creator, Bernard Waber, who worked with Lorraine, a longtime director of the children’s book department at Houghton Mifflin, says, “He was an amazing editor who always supported my looney ideas.”
Academy award-wining actress Joan Allen, a longtime advocate of literacy, presented the award to Zimmer and her organization First Book, which was recognized for providing more than $65 million to programs for underserved children around the country.
For the first time, scholarships were given to librarians and educators to attend. They went to Suzanne Shearman, school librarian from Brockport, NY; Marilyn Ackerman of the Brooklyn Public Library; and Edna Moy and Ann Louise Ennis, third-grade teachers from the Bank Street School in New York City. The Shearman’s scholarship was underwritten by pop-up book creator Robert Sabuda.
Award-winning author/illustrator Mo Willems was also on hand to sign $40 posters he created for the event. The public can still purchase signed posters, and proceeds will benefit the Eric Carle Museum.
At the close of the event, a retired Carle was presented with a cake shaped like the Hungry Caterpillar to celebrate the book’s 40th anniversary.
