Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

This is where I share with you some of the questions people ask most frequently. Some of my favorite ones have come from people who ask interesting questions. These readers have given a lot of thought to my books, and I appreciate that.

• What comes first, the story or the pictures? Where do ideas come from?
• How do you make your pictures?
• How long does it take to make a book?
• Do you ever use a computer?
• Is it true that you work with an editor?
• Why do you use small creatures in your books most of the time?
• Who are your favorite artists?
• Do you have brothers and sisters? a wife? children? pets?
• What is your favorite color?
• What is your favorite book that you've written?
• Do you have any hobbies?
• When did you decide to start writing and illustrating books?
• Did you ever want to be anything other than an artist, like a fireman?
• How did you get interested in art?
• Did you scribble when you were a little boy?
• When did you grow your beard?
• Are you an artist?
• Do you speak another language besides English?
• Many of you ask, why the butterfly in The Very Hungry Caterpillar comes from a cocoon, not a chrysalis?
• How are the spider web in The Very Busy Spider, the chirp in The Very Quiet Cricket and the flashing lights in The Very Lonely Firefly made?
• Why does Mister Seahorse look different from some of your other books and why isn't there an acetate sheet after Mr. Pipe?
• Can you come to our school and meet us?
• How can I get in touch with Eric Carle?
• Where can I purchase posters and lithographs of your art work as well as other items based on your collage illustrations?
• Click here to find more answers to FAQ in my "occasional" newsletter, The Caterpillar Express!