The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a children's picture book designed, illustrated, and written
by Eric Carle, first published by the World Publishing Company in 1969, later published
by Penguin Putnam. It features a caterpillarwho eats his way through a wide variety of
[1]

foodstuffs before pupating and emerging as a butterfly. The winner of many children's
literature awards and a major graphic design award, it has sold almost 50 million copies
[2]

worldwide. It has been described as having sold the equivalent of a copy per minute since its
[3]

publication. It has been described as "one of the greatest childhood classics of all time." It was
[4] [5]

voted the number two children's picture book in a 2012 survey of School Library
Journal readers. [6]

The Very Hungry Caterpillar uses distinctive collage illustrations (Carle's third book, and a new
style at the time), 'eaten' holes in the pages and simple text with educational themes – counting,
the days of the week, foods, and a butterfly's life stages. There have been a large number of
related books and other products, including educational tools, created in connection to the book.
The caterpillar's diet is fictional rather than scientifically accurate, but the book introduces
concepts of Lepidoptera life stages where transformations take place including the
ultimate metamorphosis from 'hungry caterpillar' to 'handsome butterfly', and it has been
endorsed by the Royal Entomological Society.

Synopsis
One Sunday morning, a caterpillar hatches from an egg. He is known as the Very Hungry
Caterpillar, who loves eating, and so he begins to look for some food. He eats through increasing
quantities of fruit on the following 5 days. First it's one apple on Monday, then two pears on
Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four strawberries on Thursday, and finally, five oranges on
Friday. On Saturday, he eats an enormous amount of food. He eats through one piece
of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami,
one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.
Then that night, he gets a stomachache from overeating (from all of those 6 days; Monday
through Saturday). But the next morning, it becomes Sunday again. The caterpillar recovered
after he eats one green leaf. Finally, he's neither hungry nor little. The caterpillar spins
a cocoon around himself. There, inside he sleeps in it for 2 weeks. Later, the caterpillar emerges
as a butterfly with large, gorgeous, multi-coloured wings.

Development
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." Carle was familiar with "differently shaped pages" from books that
[7]

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 likeable protagonist. "Then my editor
[8][9]

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]
Awards and accolades
The book has won numerous awards, including an American Institute of Graphic ArtsAward 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. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Associationnamed the book one of its
[10]

"Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." Five years later School Library Journal sponsored a
[11]

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. [12][8]

Educational and cultural influence

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

The book has been translated into at least 40 languages, including Dutch, [13]

French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Russian, and

[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Hebrew. It has been used by elementary school teachers, librarians, and parents as a teaching
[21]

aid, with activities developed which use the book. [22][23]

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

The book received renewed attention when in 1999, Pizza Hut asked 50 US 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]

UK releases
VHS
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was adapted for television on 1 September 1993 in the UK before
being released on VHS video on 17th October 1994 distributed by PolyGram Video, then it re-
released on 16th June 1997 distributed by Channel 5 Video and it also got re-released on 18th
March 2002 distributed by Universal Pictures. a sublabel of PolyGram, as part of
an anthology called The World Of Eric Carle that included The Very Hungry Caterpillar, along
with four other Eric Carle stories, including: Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, The Very Quiet
Cricket, The Mixed-Up Chameleon, and I See A Song.
It used a classical music-influenced soundtrack by Wallace & Gromit composer Julian
Nott. Narration on the UK releases of the programme, entitled The Very Hungry Caterpillar and
Other Stories, was performed by Roger McGough and Juliet Stevenson, this version was briefly
released in the US in the same year by Scholastic before on 5 August 1995, Disney released a
[28]

US dub of the video, with narration by Brian Cummingsand Linda Gary. Subsequent to that [29]

adaptation, the film and TV rights were sold for £1 million. [30][dubious – discuss]

DVD
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was released on DVD on 24 April 2006, this time presented by
the Illuminated Film Company and broadcast by Ventura Distribution as part of the anthology
called The World Of Eric Carle that included The Very Hungry Caterpillar, along with four other
Eric Carle stories: Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Mixed-Up
Chameleon, and I See a Song. It was also released on DVD in the US by Disney.

Ancillary products
There have been numerous different editions of the book, with various additional features, as
[31]

well as games incorporating copies of the book. Examples include a pop-up version and a [32]

book/card game combination from University Games. Other toys and educational resources
[33]

based upon or featuring The Very Hungry Caterpillar are also plentiful. [34]

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. [35]