The Very Hungry Caterpillar, written and illustrated by Eric Carle, is a widely recognized book and has been read by or read to probably almost every single child in the United States. Considering it has been around for 50 years (it just celebrated its 50-year anniversary), Its popularity and ability to still be as relevant and loved today as it was in the past is not something to brush aside. The timeless story, brightly colored illustrations, and the book’s playful design are engaging for children and teachers love the simple brilliance of the book that can be incorporated into their classroom in so many ways. Need an art project? Boom, make an art piece Eric Carle style. Need a science lesson? Boom, use the book as an opening to a lesson about the life cycle of a caterpillar/metamorphosis. Need a writing lesson? Boom, the perfect sentence starter: “If I wear the very hungry caterpillar I would eat….” Need a lesson about numbers and days of the week? C’mon, this book is just asking for it. As you can see, the possibilities of incorporating this book into the classroom are endless, which is part of why I think this book has seen such consistency in its popularity.
Our next stop is the illustration station. Eric Carle has a very specific style that can be found throughout many of his picture books and is very easily recognizable. The bright colors and the collage technique utilized for the illustrations give the book a three-dimensional feel and draw readers’ eyes in to the pages of the book. The design of the book itself is unique because each page has a hole in it where the caterpillar eats through the food. This adds yet another element to the story and the experience of reading the book because kids are excited to see the holes appear as the caterpillar continues to gorge itself on food. The page layout is also interesting because they start of small and progressively get larger and larger as the caterpillar eats more and more on each successive day.
In terms of the writing style, the repetitive nature is always a huge draw for kids and nothing is more exciting for a little one than being able to predict what’s going to come next in a story. This book could even be read using a choral reading style where all the kids chime in on the repetitive phrase so as to get the class really involved in and engaged with reading the story. The words used and the phrasing is simple and succinct, so children are likely to have an easy time understanding and grasping what is going on in the story, even as it alludes to the seemingly much more complex concept of metamorphosis.
The quirky nature of the story combined with its eye-catching illustrations delight both children and adults alike and make this a book that children will want to pick up and read again and again. The fact that the book can be so applicable in so many different areas of the classroom and can also just be read for pleasure is what helps it to stay relevant even after all these years. This was one of my favorites as a kid and I can remember not ever wanting to put it down. Hopefully this book will stick around for years to come so we can share our love for this book with future generations and get them on board The Very Hungry Caterpillar train!
-Emma Garcia
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