By STEVE PFARRER
When Tony DiTerlizzi was in the 5th grade and struggling to write a book report, his teacher had a brainstorm: he asked DiTerlizzi to do some drawings instead, based on the book in question, Beverly Cleary’s “The Mouse and the Motorcycle.”
Suddenly, DiTerlizzi recalls, the story made more sense. He loved the assignment, and it was perhaps his first inkling that, as he puts it, “I learn visually.”
Indeed. Today DiTerlizzi is an acclaimed children’s artist, illustrator and book creator, the winner of a Caldecott Medal for his 2002 picture book “The Spider and the Fly,” and the artist and co-creator of the “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” the popular series of fantasy books that was made into a 2008 film.
And DiTerlizzi, of Amherst, has never forgotten the books of Beverly Cleary, one of the country’s most noted children’s authors, nor the art of Louis Darling, who did the illustrations for Cleary’s first 12 books, helping to bring to life her memorable grade-school characters (and a few of their animal friends): Henry Huggins, Beezus Quimby, the disaster-prone Ramona and Ribsy the dog.
That’s why DiTerlizzi took on the job of curating the latest exhibit at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst. “Louis Darling: Drawing the Words of Beverly Cleary” presents many of Darling’s original drawings and preliminary sketches from the books, which were first published in the 1950s.
DiTerlizzi has placed the show in historical context, using period photographs, artifacts and decor that recall the flavor of post-World War II suburban America.
Cleary and Darling developed a good working relationship as well as a friendship, expressed mostly in letters — they lived on opposite coasts, though they did meet on at least one occasion — and DiTerlizzi has created facsimiles of some of that correspondence for visitors to leaf through.
“I wanted this to be a really immersive show, not just art hung on the walls,” DiTerlizzi said during a recent interview at the museum. “The books have such a distinctive setting, this moment in time, and I wanted to recreate some of the vibe.”
DiTerlizzi’s done that in other ways as well, like painting bicycle tire tracks on the floor to recreate the mess Ramona makes riding her bike in her house. Then there are the two circa-1955 upholstered armchairs you can sit in when you look at original editions of Cleary’s books that are also part of the exhibit.
At the center of the display, though, is Darling’s pen-and-ink work: tow-headed Henry, Ralph the mouse (who rides the motorcycle), and Ramona in all her skinny-kneed, rambunctious glory.
“He was one of my big influences,” said DiTerlizzi, who’s a member of the Carle Museum’s Board of Trustees. “His work, and these stories, are part of why I’m doing what I do today.”
Cleary, who turned 100 in April, published her first book, “Henry Huggins,” in 1950, sparked in part by her experience as a children’s librarian, when, she has said, she often struggled to find stories young readers could relate to. She decided she’d write those books herself, about everyday kids leading everyday lives.
Cleary, who has spent most of her life in the Pacific Northwest, would go on to publish dozens of books, and sell many millions of copies of them. Along the way, she won just about every major award for children’s literature, and she earned a National Medal of the Arts in 2003; in 2000, she was also named a Library of Congress “Living Legend” in the writer and artist category.
At her side at first was Darling, a Connecticut illustrator, like Cleary born in 1916. An experienced nature illustrator — he and his wife, Lois, a zoologist, illustrated Rachel Carson’s seminal “Silent Spring” — he also wrote a number of children’s books.
Darling and Cleary hit it off right from the start. After seeing his work for “Henry Huggins,” Cleary wrote to Darling, saying, “I want to tell you how delighted I am with your illustrations for ‘Henry Huggins.’ You seem to know exactly what I had in mind.”
Darling returned the compliment. The exhibit includes an excerpt of a letter he wrote to Cleary in 1961 after he read the manuscript for her next book, “Henry and the Clubhouse,” and got ready to add art to it.
“As always, it was a most enjoyable task and I am looking forward to making the illustrations. The story is just fine — up to snuff HENRY. I feel like I had just attended my fourth grade reunion.”
Darling would die from cancer in 1970 when he was 53, and other illustrators were assigned to Cleary’s future books. The Henry Huggins and Ramona stories were later reissued with more up-to-date art and settings to appeal to more contemporary readers.
DiTerlizzi says it was his desire to reconnect with some of that original artwork that led to the exhibit. He explains that he reads regularly to his 8-year-old daughter, Sophia, and a few years ago they were reading one of the newer editions of Cleary’s books. The experience left him a little less than satisfied, he said.
“I wanted [Sophia] to be able to see and experience those books just as I did when I was a kid. … The art and the story are really inseparable in my mind.”
Searching online sites for some of Cleary’s original hardcover books, he discovered the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, has a huge depository of children’s literature and artwork, the Kerlan Collection, that holds all of Darling’s archive, which was donated by his widow.
That prompted DiTerlizzi to approach the Carle’s former chief curator, Nick Clark, and suggest the museum do a show on Darling’s work on the Cleary books. He says Clark, who was a fan of those stories himself, immediately agreed, with one stipulation: “He said ‘I want you to curate the show.’ ”
Though he’d never done anything of the sort, DiTerlizzi said yes. “And it’s been a great experience,” he added.
Along with Ellen Keiter, the Carle’s chief curator, DiTerlizzi visited the Kerlan Collection to comb through Darling’s work and his correspondence with Cleary. He found other material online, such as copies of the original books and paraphernalia from the era, like a Davy Crockett imitation coonskin hat, which was all the rage with kids in the mid-1950s (Henry wears one in a Cleary story).
DiTerlizzi, who also contributed much artwork for the collectible card game “Magic: The Gathering,” says he’s long been inspired by an older generation of artists, from Dr. Seuss to Maurice Sendak to Richard Scarry. Along those lines, he hopes visitors will enjoy the Louis Darling exhibit.
“I think it’s a lot of fun to visit a bygone era through his work,” he said.
Steve Pfarrer can be reached at spfarrer@gazettenet.com.
“Louis Darling: Drawing the Words of Beverly Cleary” is on display at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art through Nov. 27. For information, including museum visiting hours and ticket prices, visit www.carlemuseum.org.