The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

This short story by Eric Carle is filled with moral questions on the topics of self-control, well-being and happiness, and growth and change. Read loud video by Brightly Storytime Guidelines for Philosophical Discussion The now big, fat and not-hungry caterpillar builds a cocoon around himself and finally emerges as a beautiful butterfly. On the seventh day, the caterpillar eats a “nice leaf” and feels much better. After six days of eating fruits, sweets, and “junk” food, he gets a stomach ache. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a story about a small caterpillar who emerges from an egg and begins eating everything in sight. After that experience, he eats a leaf and it helps him to become a beautiful butterfly. “And in a way I recapture those happy times.Further Resources » Summary A small caterpillar is born hungry and eats everything in sight until it gets a stomach ache.

“I think in my books I honor my father by writing about small living things,” he added.

He’d tell me about the life cycles of this or that small creature, and then he would carefully put the little creature back into its home.” “He would lift a stone or peel back the bark of a tree and show me the living things that scurried about.

“When I was a small boy, my father would take me on walks across meadows and through woods,” Eric Carle wrote on his website.

But that brain and soul were at their peak.”Įric Carle explained on his website that he would often consider what to write when he went on his walks with his father, Erich Carle, according to The New York Times. “The only way I got older and wiser was that I got better trained.

“I had a lot of feelings, philosophical thoughts - at the age of 6,” he told The Los Angeles Times back in 1995.

He would use experiences from his own childhood to frame ideas for books. His most famous - “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” - was one of the bestselling children’s books of all time, selling more than 55 million copies, according to The New York Times.īut he didn’t start writing those books until he was 40 years old.

Per NPR, Carle wrote more than 70 books for children. Simple-looking art delivers some strong messages Children can really relate to author’s picture books.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle