A House for Hermit Crab - Hardcover

by Eric Carle (Author), Eric Carle (Illustrator)

Eric Carle's magnificent collage illustrations invite readers and viewers on a breathtaking underwater tour where brilliantly-colored sea creatures dazzle and delight the eye. His modern-day fable is both wise and simple; based on the true habits of the hermit crab, it not only introduces young readers to the wonder and beauty of the marine environment but also contains an encouraging message for small children facing the inevitable challenges of growing up.
Hermit Crab's problem is that he keeps outgrowing things. When he outgrows his first shell-house, he's a bit scared. The next one he finds is big enough -- but depressingly bare. To his happy surprise, all sorts of beautiful and useful undersea neighbors come to his aid and decorate and protect his home. Finally, the new house is perfect but now it, too, has become too small! Once again, Hermit Crab must move on. But this time he is not only bigger -- he is more self confident. While he is sorry to leave his friends and his familiar shell behind, he now sees the future as full of exciting possibilities.
Children who must change schools, move to a new town, or even just be promoted to a higher grade will empathize with Hermit Crab's situation, and will take heart as they see that growing up is not really so alarming after all.

Author Biography

Eric Carle (1929-2021) was acclaimed and beloved as the creator of brilliantly illustrated and innovatively designed picture books for very young children, including Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me; Have You Seen My Cat?; and The Tiny Seed. His best-known work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has been translated into seventy languages and sold over fifty-five million copies. Carle illustrated more than seventy books, many bestsellers, most of which he also wrote, and more than 170 million copies of his books have sold around the world. In 2003, Carle received the Children's Literature Legacy Award for lifetime achievement in children's literature. In 2002, Eric and his wife, Barbara, cofounded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (CarleMuseum.org) in Amherst, Massachusetts, a 40,000-square-foot space dedicated to the celebration of picture books and picture book illustrations from around the world, underscoring the cultural, historical, and artistic significance of picture books and their art form. Eric Carle passed away in May 2021 at the age of ninety-one. His work remains an important influence on artists and illustrators at work today. Find out more at Eric-Carle.com.