When adults go to the Tacoma Art Museum, they walk reverently, talk in hushed tones, and use their eyes as their primary art appreciating sense.

Not so with children.

Turns out, when kids look at art, they run from point to point, chatter non-stop, try to touch everything, and occasionally come up with a new viewpoint.

I wandered along with the r-year-olds from the North Tacoma Montessori Center as they took a look at "The Art of Eric Carle" exhibit before its last day Sunday, Jan. 21.

Leroy greeted us at the entry; the kids were excited to see such a huge dog made of paper. The difference between cardboard and paper didn’t mean much to them, they just liked the fact that a huge dog was at the museum.

Walking further, the kids saw Richard Rhodes’ “Untitled,” the huge exterior sculpture that’s part landscape, part seascape, part whatever-you-make-of-it.  One kid saw water, while another piped in, “It looks like a skate park!” 

Once in the Carle exhibit, the fingers started twitching to touch the art; I could sympathize because Carle’s art has that effect on me, too. 

In one particularly vibrant picture, a ship pitches on the water.  The teacher asked, “How does the water look? And a little voice piped in, “ugly?” While it’s true, in this picture, Carles’ typically cerulean blues were mixed and muddied, and it’s true that “ugly” can be an adjective used to describe bad weather.

The question was then rephrased. “Does the water look calm? Or rough?”  10 little voices piped in “rough,” in unison.

The highlight of the field trip was the video presentation of Carle making, and talking about, his art. Twenty eyes were riveted as 10 bodies sat still, listening in rapt attention to the author’s words.  When Carle finished the piece he was working on, he suggested that the title would be, “A very hungry caterpillar…and only one leaf left.”

A little boy’s sad throat emitted a plaintive, “oh…” and I have to admit, that was the sound of my feelings, that this beautiful and well put-together exhibition will be leaving us.

Still, we’ll have Kahlo to look forward to, among other cool stuff; visit the TAM website for details. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler