Dr. Suess and Eric Carle Musuems

Posted on November 14, 2008 by Nedra Isenberg

Last year I tried putting together a Google Earth presentation on Dr. Seuss for my second graders while they were learning about biographies in class. Trying to learn how to use Google Earth and finding photos for the presentation was a very time consuming task. While I was doing my research I learned about a Dr. Seuss museum in his hometown of Springfield, MA. At that time I made a decision to visit the museum before doing the presentation again. Well, this fall I finally made the trip. I took a friend, a first grade teacher, and off we went to visit both the Dr. Seuss museum as well as the nearby Eric Carle museum. We arrived in Springfield just as the museum was opening. There are actually four different museums all located together. We began in the sculpture garden. The details in the bronze sculptures were amazing. My friend patiently waited while I took over 100 pictures! The morning light on the sculptures surrounded by buildings was not the best but I was content with the fact that we pretty much had the place to ourselves. After that we wandered through the different museums until we finally made it to the Seuss on the Loose exhibit. It was a small but very informative exhibit. A favorite part showed pictures of the Springfield area when Ted was a boy and then showed how something from that photo later showed up in one of his books such as Indian motorcycles or smoke stacks. It was great to see those connections. After leaving the museum we drove by Mulberry Street so I could take a picture of the street sign and then on to Fairfield Street where I not only took a picture of the street sign but of his boyhood home as well. Then a few blocks away was Forest Park where he spent time playing as a boy and his dad worked at the zoo. I hate to say I forgot to swing by the zoo for a picture. After a brief walk through the park we headed up to Amherst to visit the Eric Carle Museum of Children’s Illustrators. This was also a great stop. One room has work done by Eric Carle along with explanations on how he does his work. Another room was artwork done by a large variety of artists and many works included interesting tidbits of information about the artwork or artist. The museum has a wonderful gift shop. Of course it had plenty of Eric Carle books, puzzles, games, posters etc. However, it was also jammed packed with quality children’s literature. I could have spent hours just looking at all the great books. One other interesting part was the art studio. It was a great room full of natural light. Children’s art work lined the walls and even windows. Children and adults were invited to participate in an art project. It was an active place. I would highly recommend a visit to both museums if you ever pass through the Springfield, MA area. Also, I have posted pictures from the trip on Flickr. The pictures are under a creative commons license so feel free to check them out and use them if you can.