The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Hardcover)

by Eric Carle (Author) "In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
With its lovely, humorous illustrations and wonderful narrative about a hungry caterpillar growing up to be a beautiful butterfly, Eric Carle's story touches anyone who still has some growing to do. Along with reassuring repetition--"He was still hungry ..."--the book includes some wonderful interactive moments: what youngster can resist sticking a finger through that hole in the page as his ravenous friend makes his way through various delicacies? --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

A good translation of this much-loved picture book. Children will be fascinated by the caterpillar's varied diet and miraculous transformation into a beautiful butterfly.

Copyright 1990 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Philomel (October 15, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399208534
• ISBN-13: 978-0399208539
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (345 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,880 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect spring reading!, June 29, 2000

By	"fairfieldann" (Fairfield, Connecticut United States) - See all my reviews

This is one of my all-time favorite children's books. One sunny day, a caterpillar pops out of an egg. He is very hungry and begins searching for food. Now, many of Eric Carle's books have gimmicks--the tactile web in THE VERY BUSY SPIDER and the chirping in THE VERY QUIET CRICKET, for example. The gimmick in this book is that the caterpillar eats holes through all the food, holes that are actually punched into the pages of the book. It's a good gimmick, actually. Also, many of Carle's books teach conventions--telling time in THE VERY GROUCHY LADYBUG and animal sounds in THE VERY BUSY SPIDER, for example. This one teaches the days of the week. On Monday, the caterpillar eats this, on Tuesday he eats that, and so forth. Very cute. Eventually, he becomes a fat caterpillar. He then spins himself a cocoon, where he rests for two weeks. And when he emerges...well, you can guess the results. It's a wonderful story. Best of all, the text is very simple as are the illustrations, so the book will appeal to toddlers as well as the pre-K and kindergarten crowd. In fact, it may appeal more to toddlers, because the story is so very simple. I know I read it as a kindergartener. I loved the holes but found the story rather boring. I read it to my two-year-old this spring, however, and he went nuts over it. The days of the week were lost on him, but he was fascinated by the caterpillar turning into a butterfly--he had no idea! Can't tell you how many times we read it. We also re-enacted it, crawling on the floor and eating, spinning ourselves into cocoons, and popping out with fluttery wings. In fact, he was so taken with the caterpillar-to-butterfly phenomenon that I ordered some caterpillars (I used "Insect Lore"--they are on-line--but I'm sure there are lots of other places to get them). We read THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR at each stage of their development and then right before we released them as butterflies. It was the highlight of our spring.

88 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun, witty, classic tale., July 10, 2000

By	"charlie4" (St. Thomas, VI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Board book)

We have this book in a small and large size together with anEric Carle videotape that has the story. A young caterpillar is bornand begins to eat his way through the world and through many foods that you child will be able to identify. These foods are eaten on each of the seven days of the week, an added bonus, as your child begins to learn that Sunday is a different day that Monday. The caterpillar gets very fat. He builds a cocoon and then emerges a large beautiful butterfly. My 3 year old does not tire of this story. He learns about nature, food and the days of the week in one absolutely stunningly illustrated book. You can't get much better than this for young children. If you have young children, or if you are looking for a gift for a 4 year old and younger child, this book is highly, highly recommended. Enjoy.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Miniature edition...for hobbits? (Micro edition is more like it), March 13, 2007

By	Kawika "honest2u" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Very Hungry Caterpillar (MINIATURE EDITION) (Hardcover)

Don't get me wrong. I LOVED this book as a child, so I couldn't wait to get a copy for my kid. I was in such a hurry that I didn't realize what this publisher (or Amazon) calls MINIATURE EDITION must actually mean miniature edition for hobbits. The text in this book is so small, that I'm afraid it will hurt my child's eyes. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I hate this edition of the book because it's ridiculously small. I mean, it's that revolting.


You might not mind this size, but I heavily recommend checking it out before you purchase. There a much better sizes at Target that actually look like a miniature size for humans, as opposed to this pocket sized edition. This book does not include how the very hungry caterpillar ate a small hole in my wallet either, go figure.