But in 1932, they decided to move back to Germany. He had been born in Syracuse, the son of German immigrants.

'I was a 22-year-old greenhorn from Germany who spoke poor English and arrived in New York with $40.' The book began, in a different form, as a tribute to his mentor, illustrator Leo Lionni, who helped Carle land his first job as a graphic designer. It's not exactly autobiographical, says Carle, who divorced his first wife before 'finding a new love and my best friend, Bobbie.' It's a happy ending: 'They played and ran and dance and told each other secrets … and got married.' When she moves away, the boy declares, 'I must find her.' Adventures ensue until he does. 19, for ages 3-5) tells the story of two friends, a boy and a girl. He hopes 'the book will help find her, somehow.'įriends (Philomel, out Nov. I often think about my long-ago friend, and I wonder what happened to her.'Īt lunch, he adds a hint: 'We lived on Pond Street' in Syracuse. In the book, the text with the snapshot notes that when Carle was 6, 'I moved far away. 'I started early,' he quips, adding, 'I'm sure the adults put it up to us. In the snapshot, Carle, then 3, is smiling and hugging a girl in a white dress on a sidewalk in Syracuse, N.Y.Īt 84, Carle can't remember her name, only that she was his friend and the daughter of Italian immigrants.Īt a lunch in Manhattan with Bobbie, his wife of 40 years, Carle laughs at the old photo of two kids with their arms tightly around each other. Remember Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? or The Very Hungry Caterpillar? That's become Carle's trademark style in more than 70 books. It's a sharp contrast to the rest of the book, which is filled with brightly painted tissue-paper collages. NEW YORK - On the back page of Eric Carle's new picture book, Friends, is a brownish snapshot taken in 1932. View Gallery: Children's author Eric Carle returns with 'Friends'

Will you be my friend eric carle