The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book by Eric Carle

This wonderful pop-up book will be eagerly sort after, especially starring the hungry caterpillar, a character loved since first appearing in 1969!

The hungry caterpillar is just an egg on the leaf as the book is opened, while a lift-up flap shows the rising sun which allows the egg to hatch one very hungry caterpillar. Turning over the page we come across some familiar looking fruit, apples, pears, plums strawberries, and oranges, all with a hole eaten out of them. On that page, numbers one to five are reprised with the fruit, but over the page, we find that the caterpillar is sampling a lot of different things, leaving a hole in the midst of each: these include a piece of cake, an ice cream, a lollipop, and a slice of watermelon. And that night he does not feel very well. Children will be delighted with the little flap which shows his distressed state.

Over the page, he has retreated back to eating leaves, and again we see a lot of holes eaten. The caterpillar is getting bigger all the time. When the time is right, he builds himself a cocoon where he stays for about two weeks, until he nibbles a hole in the end and emerges as something completely different. I can hear the wows of the children when they turn that last page, marveling at the lite cycle of this little caterpillar. This book is a beautiful, engrossing introduction to the natural world for eager little fingers, keen to lift the flaps and marvel at their environment.

Eric Carle died in 2021, but his legacy lives on with a new range of books to delight the younger reader.

For more about Eric Carle see here.

Themes: Environment, Caterpillars, Butterflies, Nature, Eric Carle, Lift the flap, Pop-up book, Humour.

Fran Knight