Reblogged from Smorgasbord:

Today Jennie Fitzkee shares a visit to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art… a treasure trove of images from some of the classic children’s books of the last fifty years.

An Art Museum For Book Lovers by Jennie Fitzkee

People think of an art museum as… art, single standing pieces on their own right. Imagine masterful, award winning art combined with the best literature, in one museum. Exciting? You bet! A hidden gem in Amherst, Massachusetts.

What is your favorite childhood book? Madeline? Perhaps it is Make Way For Ducklings. There are so many. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is dedicated to the art of children’s book illustrators. I thought this was interesting, then I visited the museum. Oh, my!

The exhibit way back then featured Ezra Jack Keats, author of The Snowy Day. I am a preschool teacher and have read this wonderful book to my class hundreds of times. Yet, I never expected to come face-to-face with his art. I did. To my great surprise it was made from cut-out linoleum. I couldn’t walk away or let that go. I was witnessing the real art of his award winning book.

Much like seeing the ocean for the first time, I was stunned.

Continue reading at Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord