Carle, E. (1987). The Very Hungry Caterpillar. New York, NY : Philomel Books.
Brief Annotation: Eric Carle tells of a colorful story of the life of a caterpillar. The board book has staggered “pages” of each piece of fruit that he eats through. Although it is a beginning-counting book, and it only counts up to five, it shows patterns, and then it has 10 choice foods that the caterpillar eats before getting a tummy ache. The big and fat caterpillar then cocoons itself and metamorphosis into a beautiful, colorful butterfly. Therefore, he did not only teach about counting but also about teaching the life cycle of a caterpillar.
Genre: Picture Book, Counting
Grade Level: baby to preschool
Readers who will like this: Readers who like colorful, lively illustrations. Children learning to count and children who like caterpillars would enjoy this story. The story is simple and repetitive so it would be relatively easy for new readers.
Response/Rating (1-4): **** This book is a classic. It has a good message about eating your fruits and vegetables, although I am not sure that was the main idea for Eric Carle.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: What have you eaten that gave you a tummy ache?
Did you know this book is classified as nonfiction?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that, and I have to say that I am pretty suprised. The general idea behind the story seems plausible, but I am pretty sure that caterpillars do not eat cake... maybe they do? Strange?
ReplyDelete