Kids author and illustrator extraordinaire Eric Carle celebrates his 80^th birthday today. The fame writer is perhaps best known for his classics The Very Hungry Caterpillar (celebrating its 40^th anniversary this year) and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (originally published in 1967). Carle has written and/or illustrated over 70 titles (for a complete list click here). Today, he ponders his 80 years, career and early memories.

Fun fact: the Very Hungry Caterpillar sells one copy every 30 seconds worldwide. It has sold over 29 million copies and is published in 47 languages. Carle reports he got the idea for the book from using a hole puncher. Carle is pictured here with his wife Bobbie.