「はらぺこあおむし」の作家エリック・カールさん死去、９１歳

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】「はらぺこあおむし」などで知られる米絵本作家のエリック・カールさんが２３日、マサチューセッツ州ノーサンプトンで死去した。９１歳。インスタグラムの公式アカウントが２６日、明らかにした。（写真は米絵本作家エリック・カールさんの作品「はらぺこあおむし」＜手前＞と「エリック・カールのえいごがいっぱい」）
　子どもたちに愛されている名作「はらぺこあおむし」は１９６９年に出版。独特のアートワークと繊細な教育的コンセプトで、あおむしが曜日ごとにさまざまな物を食べて最後はチョウになるというストーリーを描き、全世界で５０００万部以上を売り上げている。
　インスタグラムの公式アカウントは、「『はらぺこあおむし』をはじめとする数多くの名作を生み出した作家でイラストレーターのエリック・カール氏が、５月２３日（日）に９１歳で死去されたことを心から悼み、お知らせします」と発表した。
　「『はらぺこあおむし』がこれほど長く愛され続けている理由を聞かれたカール氏は、次のように答えています。『この本は希望の本だと思います。子どもたちには希望が必要です。ちっぽけなあおむしに自分を重ね、美しいチョウに成長し、才能を発揮して世界に羽ばたくことができるのです』」
　発表は「エリック・カール氏、あなたの素晴らしい才能を、多くの世代の幼い読者たちと分かち合ってくれてありがとう」と締めくくられている。
　ソーシャルメディア上では著名人を含め、カール氏をしのび称賛する声があふれた。
　俳優のミア・ファローさんは「エリック・カール氏は亡くなりましたが、忘れることのできない『はらぺこあおむし』や『くまさんくまさんなにみてるの？』を私たちに残してくれました。私は子どもの頃に読み、自分の子どもたちに読み、今また孫たちに読んでいます」とツイート。「ご家族には心からのお悔やみを、そしてカール氏には心からの感謝を」と記した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/05/27-11:57）

Eric Carle, author and illustrator of the beloved children's classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has died aged 91, according to a statement from his official Instagram account on Wednesday.
The book, first published in 1969, features a caterpillar who eats his way through many different foods on different days of the week before finally emerging as a butterfly.
With its distinctive artwork and subtle educational concepts, the 224-word book has been translated into 66 languages and sold more than 50 million copies worldwide.
It is with heavy hearts that we share that Eric Carle, author and illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and many other beloved classics, passed away on Sunday, May 23rd at the age of 91, the statement read, without elaborating.
It continued: When asked why he thinks The Very Hungry Caterpillar has remained popular for so long, Carle said, 'I think it is a book of hope. Children need hope. You, little insignificant caterpillar can grow up into a beautiful butterfly and fly into the world with your talent.'
Thank you, Eric Carle for sharing your great talent with so many generations of young readers, it said.
Carle wrote and illustrated more than 70 books for young children, including The Grouchy Ladybug, The Very Busy Spider and The Very Lonely Firefly.
- 'Oh, I can do that' -
Our hearts are heavy tonight with the loss of our beloved co-founder Eric Carle who has passed away, read a tweet from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts.
The museum described Carle as our friend, our inspiration, and a creative visionary for generations of artists and children.
Carle's distinctive collage illustrations are mostly acrylic paint on plain tissue paper. The paint however goes on in different ways - via bushes of different sizes, sometimes fingers, and sometimes stamped on with sponges or even carpet pieces.
Some children have said to me, 'Oh, I can do that.' I consider that the highest compliment, Carle wrote on his official website describing his work.
To me pictures need writing and writing needs pictures. A child once called me a picture writer, and that's a good way to describe me, Carle wrote.
Carle was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1929, and moved with his parents to Germany when he was six years old, where he later graduated from a prestigious art school in Stuttgart. But he always wanted to return to the United States.
In 1952, with a fine portfolio in hand and forty dollars in his pocket, he arrived in New York, the biography on his website reads.
Carle worked as a graphic designer in the promotion department of The New York Times, then for many years was the art director of an advertising agency before his first success, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967).
Tributes to the author poured in on social media, including from the rich and famous.
Eric Carle has died- but he left us the unforgettable Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear- books i read to my children and now my grandchildren, tweeted actress Mia Farrow. Loving thoughts with his family and very much gratitude for Mr Carle.