Eric Carle is a children's book author and illustrator who is most famous for his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has been translated into over 47 languages. Since The Very Hungry Caterpillar was published in 1969, Eric Carle has illustrated more than seventy books, many best sellers, most of which he also wrote, and more than 88 million copies of his books have sold around the world.

Born in Syracuse, New York in 1929 to German immigrants Johanna and Erich Carle, Eric moved back to Germany with his parents in the mid-1930s when he was four years old; his mother, homesick for Germany, took the family back to Stuttgart. He was educated there, and graduated from the prestigious art school, the Akademie der bildenden Künste, in Stuttgart. Eric's father was drafted into the German army during World War II and spent eight years as a prisoner of the Russians. "When he came back, he was a broken man. He was, in Eric Carle's own words a "sick man, psychologically, physically devastated." Eric had been sent to the small town of Schwenningen to escape the bombings of Stuttgart.  Always homesick for America, Eric dreamed of returning one day to the United States, so he moved to New York City in 1952 with only $40 to his name. Once there, he landed a job as a graphic designer in the promotion department of The New York Times.

After educator and author Bill Martin Jr. noticed an illustration of a red lobster Carle had created for an advertisement, he asked Carle to illustrate a story. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was the result of their collaboration, and became a best-seller. This began Carle’s true career; soon he was writing and illustrating his own stories. His first wholly original book was 1,2,3 to the Zoo, followed quickly by The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Eric Carle’s art is distinctive and instantly recognizable. His art work is created in collage technique, using hand-painted papers, which he cuts and layers to form bright and colorful images. Many of his books have an added dimension—die-cut pages, twinkling lights as in The Very Lonely Firefly, even the lifelike sound of a cricket’s song as in The Very Quiet Cricket. Carle's readers often use his work as an example and create collages themselves that they often send to Carle; he receives hundreds of letters each week from his young admirers.

The themes of his stories are usually drawn from his extensive knowledge and love of nature— an interest shared by most small children. Carle attempts to make his books not only entertaining, but also to offer his readers the opportunity to learn something about the world around them. When writing, Carle attempts to recognize children's feelings, inquisitiveness and creativity, as well as stimulate their intellectual growth; it is for these reasons (in addition to his unique artwork) that many feel his books have been such a success.

With his wife Barbara, Eric Carle founded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, a 44,000 sq ft museum devoted to the art of children's books. The Museum has welcomed over 325,000 visitors since it opened its doors in 2002.

Google paid tribute to Eric Carle and his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by using his design style for a Google logo on their home page on March 20, 2009, marking the first day of spring.

Eric Carle  has two adult children, a son and a daughter. He currently divides his time between the Florida Keys and the Hills of North Carolina.