The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Picture Book
Title: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Author: Eric Carle
Age Level: 3+
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary
This book follows a caterpillar around for a week and we are able to see the different foods that the caterpillar eats such as apples, pears, plums, strawberries, oranges, and a lot of junk food.  The caterpillar grows from a little caterpillar to a big fat caterpillar and takes a break to make a cocoon where he can rest for two weeks.  When he decides to come out, we find that he has turned into a beautiful, colorful butterfly!

Opinion
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is just another memorable book from my childhood by Eric Carle.  This book is on my top 10 list of books I loved while growing up.  Again, in this book, Carle uses collage art in an outstanding way that gives such uniqueness and appeal to his work.  Although his illustrations are quite simple, the colors are so vibrant, your eye immediately is drawn towards them and you brought into the world of the caterpillar.  Another unique element in his book is the flaps where the fruit he eats is shown.  The flaps start with one apple, then two, pears, three, plums, four strawberries, and five oranges.  Having these flaps allows for the reader to become actively engaged in the story which I think is very important and is something that, in my opinion, holds the readers attention.  I think that Eric Carle is one of the best authors of children's books because he incorporates important lessons into his stories that readers pick up on and are able to practice while reading.  In this book, he introduces sets of objects up to ten, the fruit he ate, as well as the names of the days of the week.  Along with these, he is able to tell the amazing and interesting story of the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.  All of these lessons are incorporated very harmoniously into a truely memorable book.

This book would definitly be a part of my curriculum because I think that it encorporates so many essential lessons for young readers and is one that children will really enjoy reading.  I asked my child study student what her favorite books were and The Very Hungry Caterpillar was first out of her mouth.  A fun activity to do with this book would be having a real caterpillar in class and watching it turn into a butterfly  over time.