Summary
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a beloved children’s book written and illustrated by Eric Carle. First published in 1969, the book’s simple yet engaging story, coupled with distinctive collage artwork, has made it an enduring classic. While delighting little ones, The Very Hungry Caterpillar serves as an educational tool, teaching children about counting, days of the week, and the life cycle of butterflies. Translated into more than 60 languages, the book has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
Plot
The story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar begins on a Sunday morning when a tiny caterpillar hatches from an egg. Immediately after emerging, the caterpillar starts searching for food, driven by an intense hunger.
Over the next five days, the caterpillar's appetite grows steadily. On Monday, it eats one apple. Tuesday sees it consume two pears, while on Wednesday, it devours three plums. The caterpillar's feast continues with four strawberries on Thursday and five oranges on Friday. Despite this increasing intake, the caterpillar remains unsatisfied.
Saturday marks a day of excessive indulgence for the caterpillar. It gorges on chocolate cake, ice cream, a pickle, Swiss cheese, salami, a lollipop, cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake, and watermelon. This overindulgence results in a stomachache for the caterpillar that night.
On Sunday, the caterpillar eats a green leaf, which helps alleviate its upset tummy. Now significantly larger, the caterpillar builds a cocoon around itself and remains inside for more than two weeks. Finally, it emerges from the cocoon, transformed into a beautiful, multi-colored butterfly.
Themes
Growth and transformation
The cycle of life
Hunger and consumption
Days of the week and counting
Healthy eating habits
Persistence and patience
The beauty of nature
Setting
The Very Hungry Caterpillar takes place in a natural environment that could represent any era. The book’s themes and images evoke a sense of timelessness that has contributed to its enduring appeal since its publication in 1969.
Geographically, the story unfolds in an unspecified outdoor setting, likely a garden or field. The caterpillar's journey takes it through various food items, from fruits growing on trees and vines to processed foods, suggesting a blend of natural and human-made environments. This mix of settings allows young readers to connect the caterpillar's experiences with both the natural world and their own familiar surroundings.
Specific locations within this broader setting include the leaf where the caterpillar hatches, the various plants and trees bearing the fruits it eats, and finally, the cocoon where its transformation occurs. These locations provide a simple yet effective backdrop for the caterpillar's growth and metamorphosis, mirroring the developmental stages that young children experience.
Characters
The Caterpillar: The protagonist. He begins as a tiny, very hungry caterpillar who hatches from an egg. Throughout the week, he eats through various foods, growing larger each day. After overeating on Saturday and getting a stomach ache, he eats a green leaf on Sunday. Finally, he builds a cocoon and emerges as a beautiful butterfly.
The Butterfly: The transformed version of the caterpillar. After spending more than two weeks in a cocoon, the caterpillar emerges as a large, multi-colored butterfly, representing the completion of metamorphosis.
The Foods: While not characters, the various foods—from assorted fruit to cake and ice cream—play a significant role in the story, illustrating the caterpillar's growing appetite and the passage of time.
Quick facts
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was originally conceived as a story featuring a bookworm named Willi.
Author Eric Carle was inspired to create the holes in the book’s pages—representing a little trail of the caterpillar’s activity— while playing around with a hole punch.
The holes are the size of a small child’s finger pads to make the book interactive.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was initially printed in Japan due to the high costs of producing the hole-punched pages in the US.
The book incorporates educational concepts like counting and days of the week.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has featured the book in campaigns to promote healthy eating habits among kids and reduce childhood obesity.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been endorsed by the Royal Entomological Society for its accurate depiction of butterfly metamorphosis, despite a minor scientific inaccuracy regarding cocoons.
Carle acknowledged the book’s depiction of a butterfly emerging from a cocoon rather than a chrysalis as inaccurate but said he chose “poetry over science."
Former First Lady Barbara Bush incorporated The Very Hungry Caterpillar into her literacy campaign.
Former US President George W. Bush named it as his favorite childhood book, despite his being 23 when it was published.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar won the American Institute of Graphic Arts Award in 1970 and the Nakamori Reader's Prize in Japan in 1975.
Google celebrated the book's 40th anniversary in 2009 with a special Google Doodle.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was included in the BBC's Big Read poll in 2003 and ranked as the second-best children's book in a 2012 School Library Journal survey.
Since its publication in 1969, The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been translated into more than 60 different languages and sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
About the Author
Eric Carle (1929-2021) was an acclaimed American author and illustrator of children's books. His most famous work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, published in 1969, has been translated into over 60 languages and sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. Carle's unique collage technique, using hand-painted papers cut and layered to create vibrant images, became his signature style.
Born in Syracuse, New York, Carle spent much of his childhood in Germany during World War II. This experience profoundly impacted his life and work. After returning to the United States in 1952, he worked in advertising before transitioning to children's book illustration. His breakthrough came with the publication of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? in 1967, a collaboration with author Bill Martin Jr.
Throughout his career, Carle illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote. His works often feature themes from nature and aim to bridge the gap between home and school for young children. Carle's books are known for their interactive elements, such as die-cut pages and special effects, which engage young readers and enhance the storytelling experience.
In 2002, Carle and his wife Barbara founded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, dedicated to inspiring a love of art and reading through picture books. Carle received numerous awards for his contributions to children's literature, including the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal in 2003. His legacy continues to inspire generations of readers and artists around the world.
