Eric Carle Illustrated books in order

The Eric Carle Illustrated series collects the picture books Eric Carle both wrote and illustrated over his career, from 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo (1968) through more than fifty titles spanning five decades of his distinctive tissue-paper collage artwork.

Reading order

# Title Published Author Buy on Amazon
1 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo 1968 Eric Carle Buy
2 Pancakes, Pancakes! 1970 Eric Carle Buy
3 The Tiny Seed 1970 Eric Carle Buy
4 Do You Want to Be My Friend? 1971 Eric Carle Buy
5 Rooster’s Off to See the World 1971 Eric Carle Buy
6 Walter the Baker 1972 Eric Carle Buy
7 The Secret Birthday Message 1972 Eric Carle Buy
8 Very Long Train 1972 Eric Carle Buy
9 Have You Seen My Cat? 1973 Eric Carle Buy
10 I See a Song 1973 Eric Carle Buy
11 Why Noah Chose the Dove 1974 Eric Carle Buy
12 All about Arthur 1974 Eric Carle Buy
13 The Mixed-Up Chameleon 1975 Eric Carle Buy
14 The Grouchy Ladybug 1977 Eric Carle Buy
15 Watch Out!A Giant! 1978 Eric Carle Buy
16 The Honeybee & the Robber 1981 Eric Carle Buy
17 Let’s Paint a Rainbow 1982 Eric Carle Buy
18 Catch the Ball! 1982 Eric Carle Buy
19 What’s for Lunch? 1982 Eric Carle Buy
20 The Very Busy Spider 1984 Eric Carle Buy
21 The Greedy Python 1985 Eric Carle Buy
22 All Around Us 1986 Eric Carle Buy
23 Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me 1986 Eric Carle Buy
24 Eric Carle’s Animals Animals 1989 Eric Carle Buy
25 The Very Quiet Cricket 1990 Eric Carle Buy
26 Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? 1991 Eric Carle Buy
27 Eric Carle’s Dragons, Dragons 1991 Eric Carle Buy
28 Draw Me a Star 1992 Eric Carle Buy
29 Today Is Monday 1993 Eric Carle Buy
30 My Apron 1994 Eric Carle Buy
31 The Very Lonely Firefly 1995 Eric Carle Buy
32 Little Cloud 1996 Eric Carle Buy
33 From Head to Toe 1997 Eric Carle Buy
34 Flora and Tiger 1997 Eric Carle Buy
35 Hello, Red Fox 1998 Eric Carle Buy
36 The Very Clumsy Click Beetle 1999 Eric Carle Buy
37 Dream Snow 2000 Eric Carle Buy
38 “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth 2002 Eric Carle Buy
39 Where Are You Going? To See My Friend! 2003 Eric Carle Buy
40 Mister Seahorse 2004 Eric Carle Buy
41 10 Little Rubber Ducks 2005 Eric Carle Buy
42 Count with the Very Hungry Caterpillar 2006 Eric Carle Buy
43 Eric Carle’s Animals 2008 Eric Carle Buy
44 The Rabbit And The Turtle 2008 Eric Carle Buy
45 Tom Thumb 2011 Eric Carle Buy
46 The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse 2011 Eric Carle Buy
47 Around the Farm 2013 Eric Carle Buy
48 Friends 2013 Eric Carle Buy
49 Hear Bear Roar 2014 Eric Carle Buy
50 The Nonsense Show 2015 Eric Carle Buy
51 I Love Mum with the Very Hungry Caterpillar 2016 Eric Carle Buy
52 Hugs and Kisses for the Grouchy Ladybug 2018 Eric Carle Buy
53 Christmas Cheer for The Grouchy Ladybug 2019 Eric Carle Buy
54 Wonderful You 2022 Eric Carle Buy
55 How Does a Seed Sprout? 2022 Eric Carle Buy
56 The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Peekaboo Easter 2024 Eric Carle Buy
57 The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Peekaboo Halloween 2025 Eric Carle Buy

This collection spans Eric Carle’s career as an author-illustrator from 1968 through 2025 (with posthumous editions continuing his legacy). The earliest entries include some of his most recognized works: Pancakes, Pancakes! (1970), The Tiny Seed (1970), The Very Busy Spider (1984), and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me (1986). Later titles such as The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse (2011), a tribute to Expressionist painter Franz Marc, showed Carle’s willingness to bring art history into picture book format.

Carle’s tissue-paper collage technique remained consistent throughout these titles, giving the full collection a visual coherence that few other picture book artists have matched. The books cover animals, nature, seasons, friendship, and creativity, returning again and again to the natural world that fascinated Carle from childhood.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Eric Carle Illustrated series?

There are 57 books in the Eric Carle Illustrated series, published between 1968 and 2025.

What is the first book in the Eric Carle Illustrated series?

The first book in the Eric Carle Illustrated series is 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo, published in 1968.

What was Eric Carle's first book as both author and illustrator?

1, 2, 3 to the Zoo (1968) was Carle’s first book as both writer and illustrator. It tells the story of animals riding a train to the zoo, with each page adding one more animal, and it introduced the bold collage style that would define the rest of his career. His previous major work, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967), was written by Bill Martin Jr. with Carle providing only the illustrations.

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