The Eric Carle Honors is an annual awards ceremony and art auction that recognizes influential figures in the children’s book industry. On September 24, the 10th annual Eric Carle Honors gala and fundraiser took place at Guastavino’s in New York City. Author and illustrator David Macaulay served as this year’s host.
Awards were presented in four categories including: the Bridge award, which recognizes someone who has worked to create exposure for picture books through work in other fields; the Mentor award is presented to an editor, designer or educator who is a strong advocate for picture books; the Artist award recognizes innovation in the picture book industry; and finally the Angel award honors an individual or institution for contributing resources and support for picture book education and exhibitions
This year’s honorees included critically-acclaimed illustrator Helen Oxenbury in the Artist category for her amazing body of work that spans more than 50 years; Roaring Book Press publisher Neal Porter in the Mentor category for being a champion of artists, illustrators and authors; The Cotsen Children’s Library at Princeton University in the Angel category; and Joan Bertin, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship, in the Bridge category for her work in expanding children’s access to books all of kinds.
In addition to the awards ceremony, the event also featured The Carle Honors Art Auction, which showcased original artwork donated by high-profile artists including Ludwig Bemelmans, Nick Bruel, Eric Carle, Tomie dePaola, Ed Emberly, Brian Floca, Marla Frazee, Hilary Knight, Betsy Lewin, Ted Lewin, Fred Marcellino, Yuyi Morales, Helen Oxenbury, Antoinette Portis, Dan Santat, Uri Shulevitz, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Chris Van Allsburg, Bernard Waber, Rosemary Wells, Mo Willems and Ed Young.
Several guests also took time to reflect and remember the life of Barbara “Bobbie” Carle, co-founder of the Eric Carle Museum, who passed away in early September. Guests spoke of her genuine grace and generosity as well as her passion.
The Joester Loria Group is proud to be the brand licensing agency for The World of Eric Carle, the brand based on the award-winning beloved children's publishing franchise inspired by Eric Carle’s timeless stories including iconic The Very Hungry Caterpillar.