The children’s book community gathered in New York City on Thursday, September 26, for the 17th annual Carle Honors, celebrating individuals and organizations whose work has elevated the art of picture book-making. After taking a hiatus in 2023, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art reprised the benefit gala in a new venue, the New-York Historical Society. In lieu of an auction, the Carle spotlighted new artwork joining its permanent collection of more than 320 artists in Amherst, Mass., including pieces by Ludwig Bemelmans, Leo and Diane Dillon, LeUyen Pham, Beatrix Potter, and Mo Willems.

Jennifer Schantz, executive director of the Carle (succeeding Alexandra Kennedy), took the stage with Rebecca Miller Goggins, development director, to welcome the crowd. “You are all key to our creative community,” Schantz said. Since its founding in 2002 by the late Eric and Bobbie Carle, she said, the museum has served more than one million visitors. Goggins expressed her gratitude to the artists whose work is at the heart of the Carle’s mission. “Thank you for making the world a more colorful, imaginative, and compassionate place.”

The ceremony was hosted by Leslie Odom Jr., Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor and vocalist, known for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton. Odom is also the co-author of the 2023 picture book I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know, with Nicolette Robinson, illustrated by Joy Hwang Ruiz (Feiwel and Friends). “I’m so excited to spend the evening with real rock stars,” he said, adding, “I have picture books to thank for so much in my life.”

The inaugural Inspiration Award was presented to actor and activist Marlo Thomas, for her work on Free to Be... You and Me, the groundbreaking children’s record, picture book, and television special, which aired in 1974. Schantz called Thomas “a true trailblazer in the realm of gender equality... empowering children’s and adults to embrace their true selves.” In honor of the special’s 50th anniversary, the Carle will present an exhibit, “Free to Be... You and Me: 50 Years of Stories and Songs,” featuring original art, music, videos, and ephemera. “It wasn’t just a project; it was a movement,” Schantz said.

Author and composer Christopher Cerf—who worked on the television program and records—accepted the award on behalf of Thomas, who was unable to attend following the recent death of her husband, Phil Donahue. Cerf shared Thomas’s prepared remarks. She expressed her continued delight about “our little children’s record that somehow went platinum,” writing, “it goes to show the amazing power in giving children just the right pictures, stories, and songs.”

Looking Forward, Looking Back

Next, Leonard S. Marcus, children’s literature historian, Carle trustee, and founder of the awards, offered an overview of the various honors—all in keeping with the museum’s mission “to put the best possible picture books in children’s hands.” Author-illustrator Grace Lin presented the 2024 Angel Award to We Need Diverse Books, represented by founding member Ellen Oh. Now in its 10th year, the nonprofit has grown from a grassroots social media movement to become a major force for diversity, through its numerous awards, grants, mentorships and internships, public programs, book lists, and other initiatives. Lin led the audience in a drawing exercise while providing an overview of WNDB milestones over the past decade. She described the pre-WNDB industry as “a pretty colorless place, a grim status quo,” referencing the mere 8% of creators of color at that time. As of 2023, that number has grown to more than 40%, thanks in large part to WNDB’s efforts to “make bookshelves more equitable and build empathy and community.” Finally, she revealed that she’d been drawing a dragonfly, which carries “symbolic meaning in many cultures.” The dragonfly can see 360 degrees beyond itself, she noted, bringing to mind WNDB’s “vision of a world where everyone can see themselves in the pages of a book.”

Accepting the award, Oh described the pivotal conversation she had with fellow authors Lamar Giles and Meg Medina about diversity 10 years ago—and the viral hashtag that sparked WNDB. “The success of the movement has given rise to book bans,” she said. “They want to turn back time, but as a wise woman said, we are not going back,” she declared, invoking the words of presidential candidate Kamala Harris. She also expressed her hope in Gen Z, which she said has seen “more diversity in their books than any other generation. They are on the frontlines with teachers, librarians, and parents fighting book bans.” She concluded by thanking the organization’s members and volunteers for their continued work.

Dr. Claudette S. McLinn, executive director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature, presented the Mentor Award to the Horn Book, represented by editor in chief Elissa Gershowitz. Founded in Boston in 1924 “to blow the horn for books for young people,” it was the world’s first critical journal dedicated to children’s literature. “The Horn Book was my guiding light when I became a librarian,” McLinn said, and she looked to it “for uncommon insight from trusted professionals.”

Gershowitz in turn thanked McLinn, whom she called “a mentor to me and to so many.” She recalled her studies at Simmons College’s children’s literature program, which “modeled how children’s books can and should be taken seriously,” and prepared her to serve as the eighth editor in chief of the Horn Book. Acknowledging her predecessors and thinking about continuity in the years to come after the magazine’s centennial, she said, “At this pivotal time... of vitriol and backlash, we must not be complacent. We must all be mentors to each other in service of all young people, whose stories must be honored and told.”

Fittingly, a video tribute followed for KidLit TV, winner of this year’s Bridge Award. Founded 10 years ago by Julie Gribble, the multimedia company connects picture book creators with children worldwide through resources promoting a love of reading. The platform also offers access to author and illustrator interviews, read-alouds, interactive drawing tutorials, and other book-related activities, making reading engaging and accessible. Marcus said in the video, “I see KidLit TV as a kind of global town square for children’s books.”

A tearful Gribble accepted the award, saying that the organization is “my gift to the children’s book community.” She thanked her husband as well as Rocco Staino, host of the StoryMakers series. “As a child, I wasn’t much of a reader—except for books with pictures,” she shared. Growing up in Florida, she said her family couldn’t afford shelves full of books. Her grandfather sold school supplies from a cart in front of a local school in Ponce, Puerto Rico, inspiring her future work for children. Addressing the committee and her colleagues, she said, “I’ve always felt like Eric Carle’s caterpillar. Today you made me feel like a butterfly.”

The final honor of the night, the Artist Award, went to Caldecott Medalist Uri Shulevitz. Violinist Leerone Hakami performed an arrangement of klezmer music as illustrations from Shulevitz’s picture books were projected on a screen. One of the melodies featured, “Oyfn Pripetshik” (“On the Hearth”) by M.M. Warshawsky, is a Yiddish folk tune from the 19th century that took on powerful emotional resonance after the Holocaust. The lyrics tell of a rabbi teaching his young students the Hebrew alphabet. The final verse says: “When, children, you will grow older / You will understand / How many tears lie in these letters / And how much crying.”

Wesley Adams, executive editor at Macmillan’s Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers imprint, accepted the award on behalf of Shulevitz, who was unable to attend after sustaining an injury at his home in Upstate New York. “He pushes himself too hard,” Adams said of the 89-year-old author and illustrator. FSG has been publishing Shulevitz since the 1960s. He won the Caldecott Medal for The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, written by Arthur Ransome—the first Caldecott given to an FSG book. Adams edited Shulevitz’s 2020 memoir Chance, about his family’s wartime experiences, beginning with their escape from Poland after the German invasion in September 1939. The team is currently working on a companion book, The Sky Was My Blanket. “This honor from the Carle is essentially a lifetime achievement award,” Adams said. “He has created art throughout his entire life,” from his childhood in Warsaw to a labor camp and later Turkestan. “But Uri found countless ways to make pictures without benefit of the luxury of pencils.” To this day, Adams said, “He continues to make art to feed his world.”

Adams read a brief speech by Shulevitz, in which the artist recalled meeting Eric Carle “once upon a time” at a book event. Some years later, Carle shared with him a folder with the plans for his “dream of a museum for picture book art, which is now a reality,” Shulevitz wrote. “In my wildest dreams, I never imagined I’d be accepting this honor from the Carle.”