Another great story from Carle. His illustrations are always fantastic, but his stories can be erratic. This on is a dead-on hit. It is the brief story of a caterpillar's feeding frenzy before he makes his metamorphosis into a butterfly. The book introduces children to the days of the week, the names of fruits, and numbers as the caterpillar eats through different foods each day --two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, etc.-- until he finally weaves his cocoon and emerges as a beautiful butterfly. This story is a hit every time. Carle's bright colors and clever die-cut artwork never cease to entertain even the youngest child, and there is surely nothing in nature closer to magic than the emergence of a butterfly. This is a beautiful and fun book that will enthrall any child.

My 2 year older can't wait to read the pop-up book whenever I pull it out from the bookshelf! She loves to touch the beautiful 3D illustrations and is so excited to see the tiny caterpillar changed into a big fat caterpillar and then a beautiful butterfly in the end! She is now telling the story by herself! I highly recommend it to friends.

Great book. Read more here: http://wellreadchild.blogspot.com/2007/11/very-hungry-caterpillar-overview.html

Contrary to a users review, I find this book excellent for little kids. the illustrations are simple, and its an easy read for their level. They'll be sure to remember it later in life.

I understand how some people may think the illustrations are less than stellar, but they are bright and bold & captivate children. I read the book to my daughter, now 7 1/2 months old every day and when I say, "A beautiful butterfly!" She smiles & laughs - she understands the expression in my voice. This book is a great story for children because they enjoy it very much!

This is a good book to introduce the concept of life cycles to children.

Why is this preschoolers book considered GOOD? The illustrations are something a mildly skilled person could do at home and the story is MORONIC!

I am 31 and have fond memories of my mother reading this book to me
as a child. Now I am reading to my own 2 year old daughter and she
adores it. It is without a doubt her favourite book. The copy we have was
bought by my mother and shipped from England. I had no idea Eric
Carle was so prolific. They are simply delightful with truly engaging
stories and visuals. I never tire of reading them aloud.

An Excellent early teaching tool...no better way to introduce science and nature to children under the age of three. Color creates a desire to explore the pages.

The very hungry caterpillar is a great spring children's book. I enjoyed the fact that without too much intense reading, the author has taught the children about the life of a caterpillar/butterfly. It has beautifully illustrated pictures of the story, in bold colours. The story itself is very easy for younger children with short attention spans to follow. I find the book gets children involved with the story. Because the wording is repetitive, after very few readings I found the children I was reading this book to, repeating the story with me. The foods that the author uses are very familiar to children too, and the children love to count the brightly coloured pictures. The book was very appealing to me as a new adoptive parent, and I can't wait to read more of this author's work, especially in this series. I know other parents will feel the same after they've read it to their children.

This is a great book. It is fun and creative. Kids will love the story. It teaches kids how caterpillars turn into butterflies. This lesson is taught through a creative and interesting story. Great for teachers too to teach about the life cycles of animals. Enjoy!!