The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Eric Carle
A Much-loved classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar has won over millions of readers with its vivid and colourful collage illustrations and its deceptively simple, hopeful story. With its die-cut pages and finger-sized holes to explore, this is a richly satisfying book for children.
This charming little story makes a regular appearance during our family’s bedtime routine. The book is the perfect length, long enough to promote pre sleep wind down and short enough to tolerate the request for an encore!

The story is simple, with lots of the repetition that young children enjoy. In addition to promoting numeracy we have used the book to explore night and day, colours, days of the week and even healthy eating.
Ava(3 ¾) has shown a renewed interest in The Very Hungry Caterpillar story since studying and observing the life cycle of butterflies at preschool. She delights in relating the plot to her experiences.
Although our book shelf houses both the paperback and board book version, it is the sturdy board book which gets the most attention. While all of the additions contain the die cut pages and the irresistible finger holes, the size of the board book version and the thickness of the pages promote independence.
Seth (22m) delights in being able to hold the book himself and turn the pages, sometimes at the determent to the story as he races to his favourite page to point out the “cake, cake, cake”! As a parent I’m happy to allow him to explore without the fear of torn or creased pages. Safe in the knowledge that the book will withstand the attention of the baby wipe the inevitable sticky fingerprints will necessitate.
Verdict: This colourful classic is an essential addition to any young family’s bookshelf.
Reviewed by Caroline