“In that last light of day, he looked like a boy who’d just found the county’s biggest bullfrog. Those tumble-down shacks were some sort of dream come true for Daddy, and he was bound to show us what he could make of it all. I was bound to help himtoo—no matter what it took. Anything to get us a real home again. All ours.

Before long, night had taken us. The sky was like a big black bowl turned over, and I never saw more stars in my entire life. Grandma would’ve said “like ticks on a hound,” but a million times more. I stared so hard I forgot to breathe and, somewhere in my heart, I found the space to thank Daddy for bringing us to Lark Springs.” (c) 2024 Emily Herder

Onion River Press, March 19, 2024

Sunshine, Moonshine, a middle grade novel set in the prohibition South, will be published this coming spring. Check back here for all release updates!

This February 23, 2024 article, The ABCs of children’s books: ‘Alphabet Soup’ at the Eric Carle Museum looks at how picture books come to life, details Alphabet Soup, a current exhibit at the Carle, and highlights Christensen’s included illustrations for Breaking into Print.

Alphabet Soup: How Picture Books Are Made, From A to Z

January 13 - June 2, 2024

This exhibition mines The Carle’s permanent collection to uncover the processes that bring picture books to life. Each letter of the alphabet introduces a key concept in picture-book making, from the materials artists use, to changes in printing technology, and even the physical parts of books themselves! Bringing words, images, and stories together, Alphabet Soup shows that every decision matters—and every reader can find (or make!) a place for themselves between the pages of a picture book.

The Carle Collection: Recent Acquisitions

November 19, 2022 - April 9, 2023

Since its founding 20 years ago, The Carle has become one of the premier repositories in the country for picture-book art. The Carle Collection: Recent Acquisitions showcases more than 60 artworks, by 53 artists, added to the collection over the past five years, the majority through generous donation. The art covers a century of picture-book illustration. Older pieces include an 1899 ink drawing by Golden Age illustrator Charles Robinson and a 1941 watercolor by the groundbreaking artist Wanda Gag—both artists new to the Museum’s collection. There are additional treasures by Remy Charlip, Raúl Colón, Lulu Delacre, Lois Lenski, Allen Say, Maurice Sendak, E. H. Shepard, Pamela Zagarenski, and others.

Let’s Talk! Animals from the Collection

August 8, 2020 - January 24, 2021

Frog and Toad, Stuart Little, Peter Rabbit, and Noisy Nora are some of the beloved picture book characters visitors met in Let’s Talk! Animals from the Collection. The exhibition examines the longstanding tradition of anthropomorphism—giving human characteristics to animals—in children’s literature. Let’s Talk! includes E. H. Shepard’s watercolors of Winnie-the-Pooh, Beatrix Potter’s exquisite drawings of Peter Rabbit, curiosities from Alice in Wonderland, as well as familiar faces from Aesop’s Fables and Little Red Riding Hood. Historical gems by Jean de Brunhoff, Alice Bolam Preston, Leo Lionni, Arnold Lobel, James Marshall, Maurice Sendak, William Steig, and Garth Williams are featured alongside contemporary illustrators such as Ashley Bryan, Petra Mathers, Jerry Pinkney, Rosemary Wells, and Mo Willems.

Curated by Ellen Keiter and Cathryn M. Mercier, PhD.

“The heartwarming tale captures the countryside's rolling hills and the twang in each line of southern dialogue.”

— Gillian English for Seven Days*

“Seven Days is an independent weekly newspaper covering Vermont news, politics, food, arts and culture. New issues are published each Wednesday and distributed free at 1,000 locations in Northern and Central Vermont and Plattsburgh, N.Y.” Seven Days, About