The Very Hungry Caterpillar

One early Sunday morning, a caterpillar hatches from an egg. He is known as the Very Hungry Caterpillar, who apparently loves to eat. Soon, he begins to look for something to eat. He eats through increasing quantities of fruit for the following 5 days (Monday through Friday). First it's 1 apple on Monday , then it is 2 pears on Tuesday, then 3 plums on Wednesday, 4 strawberries on Thursday, and 5 oranges on Friday. On Saturday, he proceeds to eat the following: one slice of chocolate cake, an ice-cream cone, a pickle, a slice of Swiss cheese, a slice of salami, a lollipop, a slice of cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake, and a huge slice of watermelon. That night he gets a stomachache from overeating all that stuff.

The next morning on Sunday the caterpillar tries again and begins by eating one green leaf. By following the right food he feels much better. At the end of that, he is not hungry anymore and has since grown in size. The now-big caterpillar spins a chrysalis around himself. Once inside, he sleeps off his stomach ache from Saturday. Later, the caterpillar emerges into a butterfly with large, gorgeous, multi-colored wings. The story follows a caterpillar's actual life cycle: first eating leaves and growing into a big and fat caterpillar, then spinning a chrysalis and metamorphosing into a butterfly.

In a sense the book was inspired by a hole punch: "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."[7] Carle was familiar with "differently shaped pages" from books that he read as a child in Germany.[8]

A Week with Willi the Worm featured a bookworm named Willi. But Carle's editor Ann Beneduce advised that a green worm would not make a likable protagonist.[8][9] "Then my editor suggested a caterpillar instead and I said 'Butterfly!' That's how it began," Carle recalls.[7]

The differently shaped pages with holes representing the caterpillar's trail through foodstuffs were a challenge. No US printer could do the work economically but Beneduce found one in Japan.[8]

The book has won numerous awards, including an American Institute of Graphic Arts Award in 1970, the Selection du Grand Prix des Treize in France in 1972, and the Nakamori Reader's Prize in Japan in 1975.[2]

The New York Times cited it as one of the "Ten Best Picture Books of the Year" in 1969. The book placed at number 199 in the Big Read, a 2003 poll conducted by the BBC to determine the United Kingdom's best loved books. It was one of the few picture books to place on the list.[10] Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children."[11] Five years later, School Library Journal sponsored a survey of readers which identified The Very Hungry Caterpillar as the number two children's picture book, behind only Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.[6][8]

The Very Hungry Caterpillar was number ten on the list of "Top Check Outs OF ALL TIME" by the New York Public Library.[12]

Google Doodle on the 40th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The book has been translated into at least 40 languages,[13] including Dutch, French,[14] Spanish,[15] German,[16] Japanese,[17] Italian,[18] Portuguese, Swedish,[19] Russian,[20] and Hebrew.[21] It has been used by elementary school teachers, librarians, and parents as a teaching aid, with activities developed which use the book.[22][23]

It was used by former first lady Barbara Bush as part of her campaign to promote literacy.[24]

The book received renewed attention when in 1999, Pizza Hut asked 50 U.S. governors to name their favorite books from childhood. Presidential candidate George W. Bush "opted for the Caterpillar. It didn't take long for gleeful commentators to point out that when the book was published, Bush was nearly 23."[25]

In 2009, Google celebrated the book's 40th anniversary by rendering the logo on its main search page in the style used in the book.[7][26]

In 2011, the American Academy of Pediatrics sent out special copies of the book, with associated learning tools, to health providers, to promote healthy eating in the U.S.[27]

There have been numerous different editions of the book,[32] with various additional features, as well as games incorporating copies of the book. Examples include a pop-up version[33] and a book/card game combination from University Games.[34] Other toys and educational resources based upon or featuring The Very Hungry Caterpillar are also plentiful.[35]

An educational video game based on the book, titled The Very Hungry Caterpillar's ABCs, was released by CYBIRD Co. Ltd. for WiiWare on September 20, 2010.[36]

• "Caterpillar Exchange" teacher's resource page at Carle website
• The World of Eric Carle on IMDb