Module Two - The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Module Two - The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Book Summary

This book follows the progress of a hungry little caterpillar as he eats his way through a varied and very large quantity of food until, full at last, he forms a cocoon around himself and goes to sleep.

APA Reference of Book

Carle, E. (1969). The very hungry caterpillar. New York : Philomel Books. 

My Impressions

I’m not a fan of everything Mr. Carle writes, but I do love The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Bright colors, the adorable caterpillar gorging on all the wonderful foods, and then the surprise ending; a book that easily incorporates the themes of birth and life; growth and change. And the fact that if you overeat, you will most likely get a tummy ache.

What the Professionals Say

It is difficult to find a review for the 1969 edition of this book. 

In a 1994 review of the 25^th anniversary addition, the Hornbook said -

Carle's classic tale of a voracious caterpillar who eats his way through the days of the week and then changes into a beautiful butterfly has been reissued in a sumptuous twenty-fifth anniversary edition with a shiny, silver-coated cover and wonderfully thick, durably pages.

(1994) [Review of the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by E. Carle] The Horn Book Guide 6, (1).

The New York Times Book Review describes it as

"Gorgeously illustrated, brilliantly innovative..."

Both of these reviews were retrieved from the Eric Carle website

 (n.d.). [Reviews of the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by E. Carle]. Retrieved September 7, 2015 from http://www.eric-carle.com/rev-VHC.html

I also found a recent article that discussed incorporating the book into learning math skills.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar As the caterpillar eats its way towards becoming a butterfly, young children can begin to use addition to tally the foods being consumed. The very basics of subtraction can also be introduced through the die-cut holes; the missing areas of food aptly illustrate “taking away”. Those round holes - perfect for little fingers - also help little ones explore the geometry of circles, and increasing in size pages can illustrate fractions. Calendar math can be taught through the days of the week munching leading up to the Sunday leaf double page spread. The now-fat caterpillar takes up an entire page mirrored by the cocoon of the same size; these pages are perfect for measuring, estimation, scale, and even comparison to actual caterpillars.

To extend beyond the text, students in grades four and above love to revisit this caterpillar friend and can investigate and calculate the number of calories calculate the number consumed throughout the week by eating fruit, cheese, salami, pickles, cake, and other people-food. Comparing the caloric input of the actual science-based diet of caterpillars to the fictional one would encourage student research. A visual treat, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is sure to enliven math classes.

Quinlan, A. M. (2015). What makes a good math storybook?. Horn Book Magazine, 91(1), 52-57.

I found it particularly refreshing that the author suggested using the book across such a broad age range.

A Suggestion for Use in a Library Setting

Besides the math suggestions mentioned above, I think it would be fun to discuss the art techniques Mr. Carle used when he created the book.  He creates collages using painted tissue paper. I would provide each child with several colors of torn tissue paper and a large piece of sturdy white paper or cardboard. They would also have a chubby paintbrush and a glue mixture - about 50% white school glue and 50% water.  They can then paint on top of the tissue paper with the glue.  We could also add watercolor on top of the glued tissue paper after it dried a bit using cotton swabs or small paintbrushes.  Then we could either cut out beautiful butterflies from our creations or simply have a lovely collage to take home.