Friday, January 22, 2010

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle


This classic children's story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, magically captures the transformation of a tiny caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. As one of nature's many phenomenons, Eric Carle portrays the caterpillar's lifespan with exciting details. Vocabulary words such as "cocoon" could lead to a discussion about insects' lifespans. This book can easily fit in with a science unit on insects.

Told with ease, Eric Carle matches his exquisite writing style with colorful and innovative drawings that create the essence of this story. The final picture of the newly-transformed butterfly displays the butterfly with an awesome array of colors with its wings spanning the width of both pages. This reinforces the fact that nature can be both beautiful and surprising.

Not only does Eric Carle tell the fascinating story of a caterpillar into a butterfly, but he also offers other teachable moments for young readers as the story progresses. Days of the week appear in succession as the very hungry caterpillar continues to eat and eat. Through the unique combination of foods that the caterpillar eats, students can count the number of food items on their own. Eric Carle is clever by placing a hole in each food item to show that the caterpillar really ate through these items.

This book progresses in a natural fashion. Through the pictures, students who are just beginning to read can easily rely on the pictures to understand the story and the words on each page. Every young reader should experience the joy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

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