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Wednesday 10am - 4pm Thursday 10am - 4pm Friday 10am - 4pm Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 12pm - 5pm

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

Name: The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Address: 125 W Bay Road, Amherst, MA, 01002, US
Telephone: (413)5596300
Price range: $$
Rating: 4.6

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Amherst, MA
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

The Carle is the international champion for picture books. We collect & exhibit original art.
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Due to limited capacity to allow for social distancing, The Carle recommends purchasing tickets in advance on our website where you can also find upcoming events, virtual exhibits, learn about Eric Carle, and more! Masks are required for all guests age 5 and up regardless of vaccination status.

09/04/2026

A little trip down exhibition memory lane. 🖼️💚

We're getting nostalgic looking back at posters from some of our past exhibitions! Here's your chance to bring a piece of Carle history home.

🛒 Select posters are 50% off all September long at The Carle Bookshop! Use code "POSTER50" at checkout. Available in-store and online! https://bit.ly/4x5ybc4

09/01/2026

A good book always hits the spot! 📖🍽️

Eric Carle likely created this artwork as a draft for a fundraising poster published by the American Library Association. What's your comfort-food picture book?

🖼️ Come explore "Cooking with Eric Carle" before it closes this Sunday, September 6! https://bit.ly/4fCtnUM
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🎨 Eric Carle, Sketch for poster for the American Library Association, n.d. Collection of the Eric and Barbara Carle Foundation. © Penguin Random House LLC.

08/29/2026

What do Pablo Picasso and Eric Carle have in common? 🎨

Both artists took their work beyond the canvas and into three-dimensional art, collaborating with skilled craftspeople!

In the late 1940s, Picasso collaborated with Madoura Pottery in Vallauris, France, designing and decorating ceramics that were produced and fired by the workshop's artisans.

Decades later, Eric Carle took a similar approach with his abstract animal sculptures. He created foamcore and wooden-dowel figures that were reproduced as limited-edition steel sculptures by Northampton metalworker Tom Raredon.

🖼️ Learn more about the artists who inspired Eric's distinctive visual language in "Eric Carle's Modernist Inspirations," opening September 19. https://bit.ly/4fVoBTK

This Picasso piece, as well as others in the exhibition, is on loan from our friends at Mead Art Museum.
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🎨1️⃣ Pablo Picasso, Le Clown, n.d. Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, Bequest of Richard S. Zeisler (Class of 1937). © Picasso Administration.

🎨2️⃣ Eric Carle, Owl, 2000. Courtesy of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. © Penguin Random House LLC.

08/27/2026

Some landscapes stay with you for a lifetime. 🏔️

As the National Park Service celebrates its 110th anniversary, we're looking at Evan Turk's personal connection to nature. For his picture book "You Are Home: An Ode to the National Parks," Evan returned to a subject he knew well from childhood: mountains.

"Growing up in Colorado, I was always surrounded by the mountains, and it felt like returning home to draw them again for this book." —Evan Turk

↔️ Compare his childhood drawing with the illustration for his book!

💻🖼️ Ever wonder what artists' art looked like when they were kids? Explore our online exhibition, "Now & Then: Contemporary Illustrators and Their Childhood Art" here: https://bit.ly/4c8U2b5

Co-curated by Grace Lin and Jarrett J. Krosoczka.
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🎨 Illustration for You Are Home: an Ode to the National Parks, 2019. Chalk pastel on black paper. © 2019 Evan Turk.

🖍️ “Horse with Hooves of Fire,” 1992 (age 4). Colored pencil on paper. © Evan Turk.

08/26/2026

We were immensely proud to honor Dolly Parton's Imagination Library with the 2022 Carle Honors Angel Award.

Inspired by her father, who could not read or write, Dolly Parton created the program which has now gifted more than 200 million books since 1995, mailing more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five.

Her loss is overwhelming, yet her legacy and commitment to finding joy in reading and chasing dreams through picture books will continue to inspire us each and every day. 🦋
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📷 Courtesy of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Imagination Library

08/24/2026

Astrid Sheckels - Author/Illustrator understood the assignment at our latest Sunset Thursday! 🎹🎶

During Sunset Thursdays, visitors are invited to Sketch the Music, where artists of all ages and experience levels can draw the musicians as they perform. We love seeing how artists translate music onto the page!

📆 Join us August 27 from 4–8 pm for our final Sunset Thursday of the summer! Basic drawing materials will be provided, and you're welcome to bring your own or pick up supplies at The Carle Bookshop. https://bit.ly/4wQhW2D

Live music is co-presented by Northampton Jazz Festival. This week, we're joined by The O-Tones!

08/20/2026

"So they had to take Ferdinand home."

Compare the final illustration with Robert Lawson's sketch. Lawson used pen and ink to create the detailed scenes in "The Story of Ferdinand," bringing depth and character to each black-and-white page.

🖼️ Take a closer look at Lawson's illustrations in our exhibition, "Under the Cork Tree: The Story of Ferdinand," on view through November 8. https://bit.ly/4gd87q9
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🎨 Robert Lawson, Illustration for The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, 1936. The Morgan Library & Museum, 1970.16:1-37, Gift of the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. © 1936 Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, renewed 1964 Munro Leaf and John W. Boyd. Used by permission of Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

✏️ Robert Lawson, Book dummy sketch for The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, 1936. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department. © 1936 Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, renewed 1964 Munro Leaf and John W. Boyd. Used by permission of Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

08/18/2026

A "life-imitates-art" moment from The Carle 🐝💜

This time of year, plenty of friendly pollinators visit the wildflowers in Bobbie's Meadow, including this little bumblebee!

Come take a stroll through Bobbie's Meadow, named for Museum co-founder Barbara "Bobbie" Carle, and enjoy the summer beauty. 🌼 https://bit.ly/4ggh80G
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🎨 Eric Carle, Illustration for The Very Quiet Cricket. Collection of the Eric and Barbara Carle Foundation. © 1990 Penguin Random House LLC.

08/13/2026

Celebrating the dog days of summer with Dog Man! 🐶

We had some paw-some guests visit the Museum this week as part of Scholastic's Bark to School Tour, celebrating the upcoming November release of "Dog Man: A Sprinkle in Time".

📖 We read aloud to canine pals from Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, Inc.
🎭 We took to the stage for a reader's theater rendition of "Dog Man"
🧠 We learned about DNA and the brain with Smith College MIND in Development Lab
🐾 And we enjoyed doggy treats from Flayvors of Cook Farm

Thanks to everyone who joined us for this "supa" fun day! Learn about more Summer at The Carle events at our website: https://bit.ly/45n8Krh

08/12/2026

We're so excited to present the 2026 Carle Honors! 🦋

Join us at The New-York Historical Society to celebrate the individuals and organizations who elevate the world of picture book art, with emcee Kwame Alexander (). This year's honorees are:

🎨 Artist: Bryan Collier
😇 Angel: Ellen Michelson
🌉 Bridge: International Youth Library
📚 Mentor: Claudia Bedrick, Publisher of Enchanted Lion Books
💡 Inspiration: Robert L. Forbes

We're incredibly grateful to our sponsors for helping make this special evening possible.

💚 All proceeds benefit The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and our mission to promote joy and understanding through picture book art. https://bit.ly/3Mx9uAq

See you in September!
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🎨 “We Shall Live in Peace” © 2021 Bryan Collier (courtesy R. Michelson Galleries).

Address

125 W Bay Road
Amherst, MA
01002

Opening Hours

Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm
Sunday	12pm - 5pm

Telephone

(413)5596300

Website

http://www.carlemuseum.org/

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