Eric Carle and the Very Hungry Caterpillar

The New York Times, April 29^th, Children's Best Seller list includes at number 3 a wonderful book by Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. March 20^th, 2009, also marked the 40^th anniversary of the story. This book is easily one of my daughters' favorites. From the entertaining story about how much this caterpillar can eat, to the beautiful and colorful pictures, we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar quite often. The book is also a great educational tool for young children, shows the transformation a caterpillar undergoes to become a butterfly, teaching counting to 5, and the story also introduces the days of the week. Reading to your child is a very important bonding activity and The Very Hungry Caterpillar makes it fun.

The book begins with a tiny egg, out of which comes a very hungry caterpillar. The food and the amounts may be a bit far-fetched, but the story does demonstrate how caterpillars are simply looking for more and more food. This little guy eats fruits, sausages, ice cream, etc. He continues to eat and eat and eat, until eventually, he is a fat little caterpillar. Once he has plumped himself up, he creates a cocoon to begin his transformation. The book ends when the beautifully colorful butterfly emerges from his cocoon to complete the cycle.

Another important educational aspect to the book is teaching counting to young children. Due to the colorful pictures and precise wording, there is not a threat of losing their attention. And my children love to count along with the story. Whether it is the 1 apple or the 5 oranges, they love every page.

Lastly, the procession from little egg to cocoon takes exactly 1 week. Carle uses this opportunity to introduce the days of the week within the storyline. Each day that passes leads to the little caterpillar eating just a little bit more. He starts off by chomping through 1 apple and ends on Saturday by eating through a large array of items including a pickle, a cupcake, and many more. With one small green leaf on Sunday, the now fat caterpillar called it quits and began building his cocoon.

Carle found a way to maneuver through each day of the week while simultaneously counting down the amount of food. Making learning fun in this way, makes it more enjoyable for the children. The children are learning so much, without even knowing it. And add to these whole pictures the most brilliantly colorful drawings by Carle, that just make the story come to life, and you have a must addition to any children's library.

My girls loved this book so much, our first Eric Carle book, that we then had to buy others from him. More books by Eric Carle, that combine the same easy going style of writing with bright and vivid drawings are, The Tiny Seed, The Very Busy Spider, Mister Seahorse (my older daughters favorite Carle book) and so many more. I highly recommend giving just one Carle book a chance. I am sure you will become an Eric Carle fan, just like our family.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html