Hungry is as hungry does.
Eric Carle's vision of metamorphosis is more hand-painted collage and less existential nightmare compared to that of Franz Kafka.
Our hero of the story, the caterpillar, is indeed hungry. Very hungry. He even eats his way through the pages of the book itself.
All this eating is for a purpose, leading to his beautiful metamorphosis, which is finally revealed on the last page. (Spoiler alert!)
I have so many fond memories of Eric Carle's books, especially The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This is the book that spurred my own interest in entomology as a child. Every year I would find monarch caterpillars, feed them milkweed, and observe their seemingly magical transformation into beautiful butterflies. Each time a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis, spreads its wings, and takes its first flight is like a small miracle before your very eyes.
Eric Carle's artistic style is inimitable and immediately recognizable. You don't even need to read the name of the author on the cover of an Eric Carle book to know who wrote it.
He is also a gifted storyteller and know exactly how to capture children's imagination and inspire them to discover the world around them. 12 Eh. I've seen hungrier caterpillars. 12 Besides the promotion of drug use (look at that thing's eyes... and he obviously has the munchies!) I dislike that the author couldn't come up with some differing foodstuffs... come on... salami AND sausage? Chocolate cake AND a cupcake? And the line that says Now he wasn't hungry any more - and he wasn't a little caterpillar anymore drives me INSANE! Where is the parallelism? I always want to read it as: Now he wasn't hungry any more - and he wasn't little anymore. (In fact, sometimes I DO read it wrong on purpose!)
It also just leaves me a little empty at the end. I keep waiting for his metamorphosis to propel him into some new situation. Is he still hungry? (and in his state as a caterpillar, the author mentions he is VERY hungry. Is he MORE hungry than other caterpillars? What factors created this ultra-state wherein he persists?)
I really feel like the author left us questioning so many factors, that I didn't really ever feel a connection with the protagonist. 12 Eric Carle's books have a special place in my heart. The way he creates his illustrations makes them so colorful and appealing to all.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of our favorite books by him, but we enjoy them all equally. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, The Grouchy Ladybug, The Very Busy Spider, The Very Quiet Cricket, and Dream Snow are just a few of our most cherished Eric Carle books.
When you witness a toddler who can't read, recite all the words to these stories, you know just how much they love them too!
5***** 12 There are some books I’m just not smart enough to read but, darnit, I challenged myself and I finally made it through The Very Hungry Caterpillar (after several false starts)! I’m not gonna flatter myself that I unnerstood the depth of the ideas, themes and junk in it, but I liked the colours and pitchers and stuff…
Oooooh man - lookit this lil guy! He eats an apple, two pears, three plums - he’s a beast! Does he stop there? Nuh to the uh! Four strawberries and then FIVE - count it, FIVE - oranges. This unstoppable motherfucker.
And then shit gets really fucked up - all bets are off! Cake, ice cream, cherry pie, a lollipop - he is. Off. The. Chain! We’ve all been there after a trying week - no judgements lil dude! I wonder if this book is inadvertently responsible for the “health at any size/fat acceptance” movement with its message of “eat like a pig and become beautiful!”?
I’m not gonna spoil the ending of course but it’s worth the journey. It seems predictable because he’s a caterpillar but it leaves things wide open for a sequel. I mean, this guy is now more mobile than ever - what else is he gonna eat next? A pizza?! Two pizzas?? THRE - you’re right, that’s too much…
You know what made me really laugh? My edition had a SUMMARY at the start! The summary was this large paragraph that was as long as the book’s lines put together! Who needs a fucking summary for The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Who can’t read this in no seconds flat and get the jist of it?! Which parent is looking at this wondering if it’s suitable for their braindead sprog to dribble on?!
Anyways. This thing is still the greatest book about greedy caterpillars out there and rightly deserves its legendary status. Just don read it when you’res dieting hawmahashsahwanasm… 12
[Book #11 for my grad school Children's Lit class] 12 Fun fact for today? A famous picture book, described as “one of the greatest childhood classics of all time” was actually inspired by … a simple hole punch!
Yes, incredibly, it’s true. The author remembers:
“One day I was punching holes with a hole puncher into a stack of paper, and I thought of a bookworm and so I created a story called ‘A Week with Willi the Worm.’”
But his editor suggested that readers may not like a green worm very much, and suggested a caterpillar instead. The idea appealed to Eric Carle, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the result.
“I said 'Butterfly!’ That’s how it began.” But did it begin there, or did it end? It’s rather like the chicken and the egg ...
The story starts on a moonlit night, with a tiny egg on a leaf. On the next morning, which is Sunday, a tiny red-faced caterpillar pops out of the egg. He’s very hungry, so he begins to look for some food. Over the next five days we see him eating through more and more fruit. There’s an apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four strawberries on Thursday, and five oranges on Friday … and then, on Saturday, he gobbles down an enormous feast of all sorts of silly food:
“On Saturday, he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.”
Of course by the end of the day, he feels very ill indeed, with a stomach ache. The next day though, another Sunday, he goes back to his more sensible diet, and eats through a large green leaf. He’s now a very big fat caterpillar! He spins a little house round himself called a cocoon and stays in there for a whole fortnight. And after that is the magic, which will entrance all young children, as of course the illustration shows the caterpillar emerging, transformed into a beautiful butterfly with large, glorious, multi-coloured wings.
This is a wonderful book for very young children. It introduces sound educational themes such as counting, the days of the week, foods, (although Saturday’s feast is a bit of a fantasy!) and the life cycle and transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. It is simple but accurate, and has been endorsed by the “Royal Entomological Society”.
It has to be said though, that its charm and novelty is its greatest asset. The pages are differently shaped, and have holes punched through to represent the caterpillar’s trail as he eats through all the various foods. Although The Very Hungry Caterpillar was first published in 1969, apparently it has sold the equivalent of a copy per minute ever since (30 million copies worldwide). It has won many awards for children’s literature, and also a major graphic design award. Eric Carle not only wrote it, but also designed and illustrated the book.
Quite an achievement, then, for a book which was inspired by a simple hole punch! 12 RIP Eric Carle who died today aged 92.
Former president George W. Bush named this his favorite book from childhood (it came out when he was 23 ... but perhaps he meant his kids' childhood). In any event it's one of my favorites from my childhood, and from reading to my own kids. Was it the first to put holes through its pages? Probably not, but it worked very well. Kids like sticking their fingers in things - genius!
Anyhow - this is one HUNGRY caterpillar! He puts a hole through everything be it a slice of watermelon (or wacca menon as my daughter first said it), ice cream cone, or sausage.
It is in fact one of the bestselling books in the history of literature!
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...
So what does this epic teach us?
1/ Everything in moderation. Our caterpillar just sticks a single hole in each food item - he ain't that sort of greedy, he'll leave some for others.
2/ Try new things. Our caterpillar ain't picky, he'll try anything once, even gherkin!
3/ Eat healthy to avoid stomach ache. A nice green leaf will sort you out.
4/ Change is good. Straighten up and fly right and you too could become a beautiful butterfly and... um ... fly, right!
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. 12 I actually gave this book 5 stars, but the very hungry caterpillar ate one of them.
Also, did anyone else get a defective book? My version has a bunch of holes in it. 12 no fucking way he can eat that much 12
Listen to the Very Hungry Caterpillar walking and eating his way through this sound book based on Eric Carle's classic tale of a little caterpillar's transformation into a beautiful butterfly. The Very Hungry Caterpillars Sound Book. Eric Carle