The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle > Reviews (62)

The Author
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was written back in 1969 by Eric Carle who was born in New York on June 25th 1929 to German parents. He moved back to Germany when he was six years old. At the age of 15 he was conscripted by the German government to dig trenches on the Siegfried line returned to New York in 1952 with just $45 his pocket. Once there, he landed a job as a graphic designer on The New York Times.

His distinctive artwork is achieved through collage and hand-painted papers which are cut and layered to give depth and colour. Many of his book also feature twinkling lights (The Very Lonely Firefly, 1995) and animal sounds (The Very Quiet Cricket, 1990)

In addition he has created two pieces of artwork for the 'Google doodles' seen on Googles homepage - The first day of spring 2009 and the southern hemispheres fall theme.

Properties of The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The version we have is made of cardboard is rectangular in shape and measures 18cm x 13cm when closed. This makes it incredibly hardwearing and easy for little fingers to hold and turn.

There are 26 pages with between 5 and 30 words on each page.

The spine of the book is a chunky 2cm thick which I really appreciate as it makes finding the book you want much easier. Whilst the spine doesn't feature a caterpillar the title is in nice clear capital letters. A thin spined book like 'A Very Proper Fox' which we also love gets lost I because you can't see its title.

Each page features eye catching holds-your-child's'-attention illustrations that are simple yet contain depth and 3D like qualities.

We often however, have a debate on what the multi-coloured round circles are on the opening two title pages. Guesses have ranged from a plausible "caterpillar eggs" to a more creative "this is what happens when a space rocket drops millions of smarties on us, and we have to eat our way out"!

The front cover features a wiggly caterpillar with blue and red hairs, six feet and a red head. Its other features have been the topic of some debate. The more observant of you will have noticed that the caterpillar doesn't have a mouth!...no really, go and check your copy. My husband also thinks that the caterpillars eyes make it looked a little frenzied , although I have another theory which goes like this....The caterpillar is most definitely female and she is experiencing that awful sinking feeling you get when you realize you've eaten way to much and your holiday is only two weeks away!

Amazing Facts
1. This book has sold over 30million copies

2. It is estimated that a copy is sold ever 30 seconds

3. It is ranked at number 111 in Amazons Bestseller Rankings

4. The idea for this came about when Eric Carle was using a hole punch. He thought of a bookworm and therefore the original title was 'A Week with Willi The Worm'. Eric's editor disagreed and thought that a green worm would not be a likeable as a caterpillar

5. The film and TV rights have been sold for £million but nothing has a yet been produced

The Education Benefits
Aside from being a great read and a chance to spend quit time with the kids The Very Hungry Caterpillar teaches many early stage concepts which include;
1.

Counting to five

2. The days of the week

3. Food types and the discussion you can have around these elements

4. Science - the metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to butterfly

Now be honest you didn't realize it did all that did you?

The 'plot'
This book follows a caterpillar as it eats its way through a variety of foodstuffs before he finally pupates and emerges as a butterfly.
Six of the pages are graduated so you can see the one behind it and they also contain a caterpillar sized hole through each item of food.

What do I think?
A fantastic family read that children can join in with at every stage of their reading and understanding abilities. Initially appreciating the colours and food 'holes' and when their confidence grows they can read this for themselves. They can also try and stick their fingers through the hole as their sister is trying to shut the book which is always helpful 

What do the kids think?
Instead of second guessing I asked them

A aged 7
"I think it's really good but our teacher says you shouldn't waste food and the caterpillar only eats the middle. And the piece of cheese is actually a slice of pineapple you know"

C aged 6
"I think it is very sad that he doesn't have a name because nobody will be able to invite him round to play because they won't know how to find his mum to ask if that's alright"
"I like mummy reading it at night when we have our twinkly lights on and she strokes my hair!"

Price
Our copy is a few years old and has a RRP of £4.99
On Amazon the RRP is now £5.99 and they are selling it for £2.50 (saving 42%)

Other formats
You can now get this book with a CD, as a finger puppet book, a pop-up book and a colouring book.

I have also found a collection of free Very Hungry Caterpillar recourses on Eric Carle's official website www.eric-carle.com these include colouring pages and instructions on how to make one of his illustrations.

Board book ISBN-10: 0241003008 / ISBN-13: 978-0241003008
Finger puppet book ISBN-10: 0141329947ISBN-13: 978-0141329949 (RRP £7.99)
Published by Puffin Books, London

Summary
Willi be flying onto your bookshelf?
Summary: A must to wing its way onto your child's bookshelf