The Secret Birthday Message [Library Binding]

Eric Carle (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1972 | Age Level: 2 and up

‘On the night before Tim’s birthday, he finds a rebus note, a secret message directing him to his gift. Youngsters can read the note with him, then follow him up, down, and through the various-shaped, brightly colored [die-cut] pages to find the puppy at the end. . . . ‘A Very-First-Step-To-Learning Book’ dealing with directional concepts.’ —CE.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A small boy follows a coded message to find his birthday surprise. PW noted that this book introduces "pattern recognition, matching shapes, map-reading, and directional relationships in full-color pages that allow preschoolers to participate fully in the enticing adventure."
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Eric Carle is the creator of more than seventy picture books for young readers.

Eric Carle was born in New York, USA. However, when he was just six, he moved with his parents to Germany. In 1952, after graduating from the prestigious Akademie der Bildenden KÜnste in Stuttgart, he fulfilled his dream of returning to New York.

Eric Carle has received many distinguished awards and honours for his work, including, in 2003, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his lifetime contribution to children's literature and illustration.

In 2002, fifty years after Carle's return to the United States, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art was opened in Amherst, Massachusetts. Here visitors of all ages can enjoy, in addition to Eric Carle's work, original artwork by other distinguished children's book illustrators from around the world.

---

Eric Carle es el creador de mÁs de setenta libros ilustrados para niÑos.

NaciÓ en Syracuse, Nueva York, pero a los seis aÑos de edad se trasladÓ con sus padres a Alemania. En 1952, tras graduarse de la prestigiosa Akademie der Bildenden KÜnste de Stuttgart, logrÓ cumplir su sueÑo de regresar a Nueva York.

Ha recibido muchos e importantes premios y distinciones, entre ellos el Laura Ingalls Wilder Award en 2003, por su aportaciÓn global a la literatura y a la ilustraciÓn infantil.

En 2002, cincuenta aÑos despuÉs de su regreso a los Estados Unidos, se inaugurÓ en Amherst, Massachusetts, el Museo Eric Carle de Libros Ilustrados, donde se exhibe, ademÁs de la obra completa de Eric Carle, un buen nÚmero de originales de los mÁs destacados ilustradores de libros infantiles del mundo entero.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (January 1, 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0690723482
• ISBN-13: 978-0690723489
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,625,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Carle is acclaimed and beloved as the creator of brilliantly illustrated and innovatively designed picture books for young children.


Eric was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1929, and moved with his parents to Germany when he was six years old. After graduating from art school, he returned to America, the land of his happiest childhood memories, and found work as a graphic designer.


After seeing an advertisement designed by Eric, respected educator and author, Bill Martin Jr, called to ask him to illustrate a story he had written. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, with its distinctive collage style, was the result of their collaboration. This favorite was the beginning of Eric Carle's true career. Soon Eric was writing his own stories, developing a close bond with Ann Beneduce, the founder of Philomel Books, who would be his editor for nearly 40 years. In 1969 they published the celebrated classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has eaten its way into the hearts of literally millions of children all over the world and has been translated into more than 30 languages. Since this beginning, Eric Carle has illustrated more than seventy books, many best sellers, most of which he also wrote.


The secret of Eric Carle's books' appeal lies in his intuitive understanding of and respect for children, who sense in him instinctively someone who shares their most cherished thoughts and emotions. He says "I believe the passage from home to school is the second biggest trauma of childhood; the first is, of course, being born.
Indeed, in both cases we leave a place of warmth and protection for one that is unknown. The unknown often brings fear with it. In my books I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun."


Eric Carle has two grown-up children, a son and a daughter. He and his wife Barbara divide their time between Massachusetts and Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully Delexical Idiomatic Directionals, June 5, 2006

By 

My Uncle Stu (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Secret Birthday Message Board Book (Board book)

Tim gets a message in code that will lead him to his birthday present. The code contains shapes, and the shapes correlate with cutout pictures of such things as the moon, a star, rocks, and a cave entrance. The cutout pictures half reveal, half conceal the pages behind it, as we fellow the code, a set of directional instructions: Below the star, behind the rock, down the stairs, up and through... After finding Tim's gift, first a pair of eyes but revealed to be a puppy, we are asked if we can find our way back. A map on the final page shows a spatial layout of all the previous instructions. At first I thought of this book as a single gimmick stretched, inflated into a full text, but it is actually more clever than that. It is a fun book that kids can quickly memorize and get the hang of, with the same fertile and detailed illustrations you are familiar with if you've seen any of Carle's books. But it is also challenging children to think through a set of instructions, think sequentially and directionally, then have to shift sets and run the sequence backwards. Good stuff, thanks Carle.

And who doesn't love a cute puppy?

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderfully engaging book for children!, April 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Secret Birthday Message (Hardcover)

My daughter received this book for her 1st birthday and although she was too little to "follow" the symbols of the "secret message" she adores the shaped pages, the large pictures of easily identified objects - moon, stars, rock etc. and the birthday present at the end which you can peek through to see the page before was her absolute favorite. I need to purchase another copy for her because she has just about worn it out!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Toddler Fun!, April 8, 2001

By 

"intentaccess" (Boca Raton, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Birthday Message Board Book (Board book)

This book is about a boy (Tim) who had received a secret message for his birthday. You must follow the message, which is teaching shapes and through the wonderful illustrations catches the concepts of these shapes associated with this world. The pictures wonderful as all of Eric Carle's are and this is a fun adventure!