Eric Carle: The Very Hungry Caterpillar author dies from kidney failure aged 91

Eric Carle, author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar dies aged 91 (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File).

The New York-born author who began writing in the late 1930’s passed away in Northampton, Massachusetts of kidney failure last Sunday, his son Rolfe told the New York Times.

Mr Carle’s family said: “In the light of the moon, holding on to a good star, a painter of rainbows is now traveling across the night sky."

Since its publication in 1969, the Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold over 50 million copies and has been translated into 62 languages.

Distinguished by brightly coloured illustrations, Carle’s body of work consisted of more than 70 titles including Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, The Grouchy Ladybug and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me.

The Eric Carle Museum said: "He was our friend, our inspiration, and a creative visionary for generations of artists and children.”

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