I love a good picture book!  And Eric Carle is one of the best authors/illustrators for Nature picture books for young children.  It is important to teach children about Nature, to introduce them to the natural world, and to instill in them an appreciation for all creation.  If you teach children to love Nature, they will respect and care for our Earth.

The winners of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar board books are:

Maggie and Lynda–two of the most beautiful butterflies I know!  You both have so much to offer to all the people around you!  Maggie, your energy, humor, and goodness reach out and touch people deeply.  Lynda, what wisdom and love-in-action you model to those lucky enough to be in your presence.  So glad I have spent many years in the company of both of you!  I will get your books to you next week!

The other butterfly–Emily–who indeed has migrated far from home–you inspire me every day with your energy, your insight, your compassion, and your love.  I still have our Very Hungry Caterpillar book in a box somewhere!

Amy, you are so right that this northern climate going into fall and winter makes one want to spin a cocoon!  It’s a good place to be when it’s cold and dark outside.  It can be a time of rest, reflection, and rejuvenation–you of all people know the benefit of such a time.  And when you spread your wings and your talent and love, we are all blessed by knowing you.

And to my fellow caterpillars, my sisters Brenda and Sam, we all find ourselves in this empty nest struggle–the end of all the years of caring for our kids on a daily basis to the beginning of the years of relating with our adult children.  How do we do this?!?  No manual for that either.  It makes me want to eat chocolate–when I know I should be eating green leaves!  And so we work on our next transformation….  Love to you both!

Eric Carle is best known for his children’s books, but when our daughter Emily was in an old bookstore in Ely, MN, she found the book Nature Thoughts–A Selection that was illustrated by Eric Carle!  The copyright was 1965 and the original cover price was $1.00!

One of the quotes from this book talks about the changes in Nature–how we are given ‘some beauties’ in every season.  My wish for you is to recognize the ‘beauties’ in your life, no matter the season, so you can cherish them, appreciate them, and take good care of them.

Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress. 

Charles Dickens