Eric Carle: The Garden of Color and Kindness (2021)
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
May 23, 2021
Eric Carle—the artist who taught children to count, to notice, to love a leaf—passed away, leaving a library of sunlight. From his most famous book:
On Saturday, he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon. That night he had a stomach ache.
He believed beauty should meet us everywhere:
Whatever our eyes touch should be beautiful.
And when he addressed graduates in 2007, he ended with counsel fit for gardeners and newlyweds alike:
Love your partner and tend your garden.
Simplify, slow down, be kind.
May we keep his colors bright—on the page and in the beds.
Eric Carle
