This is one of my all-time favorite children's books. One sunny day, a caterpillar pops out of an egg. He is very hungry and begins searching for food. Now, many of Eric Carle's books have gimmicks--the tactile web in THE VERY BUSY SPIDER and the chirping in THE VERY QUIET CRICKET, for example. The gimmick in this book is that the caterpillar eats holes through all the food, holes that are actually punched into the pages of the book. It's a good gimmick, actually. Also, many of Carle's books teach conventions--telling time in THE VERY GROUCHY LADYBUG and animal sounds in THE VERY BUSY SPIDER, for example. This one teaches the days of the week. On Monday, the caterpillar eats this, on Tuesday he eats that, and so forth. Very cute. Eventually, he becomes a fat caterpillar. He then spins himself a cocoon, where he rests for two weeks. And when he emerges...well, you can guess the results. It's a wonderful story. Best of all, the text is very simple as are the illustrations, so the book will appeal to toddlers as well as the pre-K and kindergarten crowd. In fact, it may appeal more to toddlers, because the story is so very simple. I know I read it as a kindergartener. I loved the holes but found the story rather boring. I read it to my two-year-old this spring, however, and he went nuts over it. The days of the week were lost on him, but he was fascinated by the caterpillar turning into a butterfly--he had no idea! Can't tell you how many times we read it. We also re-enacted it, crawling on the floor and eating, spinning ourselves into cocoons, and popping out with fluttery wings. In fact, he was so taken with the caterpillar-to-butterfly phenomenon that I ordered some caterpillars (I used "Insect Lore"--they are on-line--but I'm sure there are lots of other places to get them). We read THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR at each stage of their development and then right before we released them as butterflies. It was the highlight of our spring.
We have this book in a small and large size together with anEric Carle videotape that has the story. A young caterpillar is bornand begins to eat his way through the world and through many foods that you child will be able to identify. These foods are eaten on each of the seven days of the week, an added bonus, as your child begins to learn that Sunday is a different day that Monday. The caterpillar gets very fat. He builds a cocoon and then emerges a large beautiful butterfly. My 3 year old does not tire of this story. He learns about nature, food and the days of the week in one absolutely stunningly illustrated book. You can't get much better than this for young children. If you have young children, or if you are looking for a gift for a 4 year old and younger child, this book is highly, highly recommended. Enjoy.
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Story Synopsis:
A caterpillar eats his way through different foods until he is full and weaves a cocoon transforming into a beautiful butterfly. Charming colorful illustrations of foods along with the fat caterpillar and catchy little holes in the foods where the caterpillar "had his snack" make this book a hit with young children.
Review:
Eric Carle's classic, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" has charmed millions over the years with it's simple memorable story, striking illustrations and the gimmicky holes on each of its' pages. To date, more than 12 million copies of this book have been sold in its original, full-sized edition, and mini editions. This beloved tale of science and gluttony has also been translated into 20 languages and counting. Die-cut pages (each page has a hole where the "caterpillar" ate through the food item) illustrate what the caterpillar ate on successive days. Strikingly bold, colorful pictures and a simple text in large, clear type tell the story of a hungry little caterpillar's culinary progress through an amazing variety and quantity of foods. Full at last, he weaves a cocoon around himself and goes to sleep, to emerge a few weeks later as a wonderfully transformed and beautiful butterfly! The final, double-page picture of the butterfly is a joyous explosion of color, a vibrant affirmation of the wonder and beauty of Nature. This story is a hit every time. Carle's bright colors and clever die-cut artwork never cease to entertain even the youngest child, and there is surely nothing in nature closer to magic than the emergence of a butterfly. This is a beautiful, educational and fun book.
Literary Features For Young Readers:
Simple words appropriate to pre-readers, younger children and ELLs (English Language Learners).
The predictability of the words and their tie-in with the illustrations makes the book easy for pre-readers to understand.
The rhythm of the prose makes the book memorable and fun book to read for little people.
Strikingly bold, colorful pictures tell the story of the hungry little caterpillar in complement with the simple words.
Eric Carle's art gimmick (i.e. the die-cut holes through the food illustrations on each page) gives small children (and the occasional adult like me!) an extra bit of fun and enjoyment
The moral lessons of the story are simple and universal: "Don't judge a person by the way they look" and "real beauty is more than skin-deep."
Teaching Tie-ins:
Counting skills (Foods accumulate progressively)
The days of the week.
Nutrition (The best food for the caterpillar is the leaf, not the candy, cake, etc. or why we can't eat chocolate and candy all day long)
Intro to science and biology:
It is a fun book with its' "holes" that have been eaten through the pages, and become a preschoolers introduction to science/biology when the little caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly.
Shapes (foods)
Possible Projects:
Food or nutrition mobiles and other related projects.
Art collages in the style or Eric Carle using torn tissue and other media.
Simple life cycle science projects (posters are life cycle mobiles)
Caterpillar art activity: creating caterpillars out of an egg cartoons.
As a preschool and kindergarten teacher, I had classes perform simple plays for young children based upon this book.
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I highly recommend this charming little book for younger children and ELLs (English Language Learners).
Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan
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Don't get me wrong. I LOVED this book as a child, so I couldn't wait to get a copy for my kid. I was in such a hurry that I didn't realize what this publisher (or Amazon) calls MINIATURE EDITION must actually mean miniature edition for hobbits. The text in this book is so small, that I'm afraid it will hurt my child's eyes. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I hate this edition of the book because it's ridiculously small. I mean, it's that revolting.
You might not mind this size, but I heavily recommend checking it out before you purchase. There a much better sizes at Target that actually look like a miniature size for humans, as opposed to this pocket sized edition. This book does not include how the very hungry caterpillar ate a small hole in my wallet either, go figure.
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I bought this as an extra book for my son since this is one of his favorite stories. I had no idea the book would be smaller than a dollar bill. It is a great story, but you need to buy a bigger book than this one.
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Bought this for my 5 year old neice (size large)...she loved it, plenty of room for her to run and play with the outfit on.
