The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eric Carle's 1969 picture book follows a small caterpillar from the moment he hatches under a leaf through a week of eating: one apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, and so on through a Saturday feast that leaves him with a stomachache. He builds a cocoon and emerges, on the last spread, as a butterfly. Carle illustrated the book with his signature hand-painted tissue paper collage and cut die-cut holes through each piece of fruit so children could push their fingers through. The Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold more than fifty-five million copies in more than seventy languages and is one of the best-selling children's books ever published.
What you might want to know about The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A tiny caterpillar eats his way through the week and emerges as a butterfly.
During the spring of 2020, Michelle Obama posted a read-aloud of The Very Hungry Caterpillar on her Twitter account as part of her Mondays with Michelle Obama story time, calling it one of her family's favorite picture books and a comforting choice for children stuck at home.
It is written for ages roughly 1 to 5. The die-cut holes and counting structure make it work as both a read-aloud and an early concept book.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar was written by Eric Carle, published in 1969 by Philomel Books.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is 32 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Very Hungry Caterpillar takes most readers under an hour to finish.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
