I might post an odd review here but I will not return ratings or reply to communications. Feel free ...
I might post an odd review here but I will not return ratings or reply to communications. Feel free to contact me through dooyoo, Helium or igougo - or directly on magdadh@hotmail.com
Member since:22.04.2004
Reviews:175
Members who trust:64
This book is a true children's classic - and rightly so.
I am not normally fan of Eric Carle, despite his perennial popularity and great hype, but this one is a winner: I suspect that all his fame was built on this one book.
I don't know what it is about caterpillar themed books that appeals so much, although I suppose it must be the (unbearable, obviously) suspense of transformation, and the contrast between wiggly, faintly repulsive caterpillar, crawling on the ground or on the plants, and the beauty that is a butterfly, who, on top of everything, also can fly!
Carle's story chronicles a week in a life one one caterpillar who goes on a rampage devouring huge quantities of fruit (in fact, there is a method to that, as it eats one on Monday, two on Tuesday etc).
The book brims with concepts and educational opportunities (in fact, I sometimes think it has too many squashed in), but it somehow works quite effortlessly in this case. We have counting, days of the week, names of foodstuffs and of course the caterpillar transformation too.
Carle makes an great use of bright, modern pictures; varied page sizes (increasing from Monday, when one fruit is eaten to Saturday, with a giant list of items) depicting all kinds of fruit devoured by the caterpillar.
Each page is marked by those little holes marking caterpillar's track which are truly great for putting little fingers in (and the fingers fit, surprisingly - toddler fingers that is, not adult)!
The text works well and is very suitable for reading aloud, it has its own, simple but almost hypnotic rhythm. Add to this the magic beginning ("in the light of the moon...") and the wonderful butterfly-from-caterpillar climax which surely must be beloved of any child, and you have a real winner.
If you have a toddler and don't have a copy of this, go and buy one now. It's unmissable.
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I have a paper-back copy somewhere in a cupboard (or did!) . . . My youngest has just turned 25 . . . although I MIGHT have passed it on to my eldest when Josh was little (he turns 13 this year; his youngest sibling is 3) . . .
~~~ ♥ jes ♥ ~~~
Hishyeness 27.04.2009 22:09
Just finished reading this to my four year old daughter. I try and catch her out by deliberately reading the foods out of order, but she always corrects me with a frown, and an emphatic "NO Daddy!". Well reviewed. Tx.
Advantages: A timeless classic that your child will enjoy time and time again. Disadvantages: You may have to read this story so many times it will become permanently imprinted in your brain.
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