The Very Hungry Caterpillar Summary

Independent Reading Exercise: Picture Books

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969), written and illustrated by Eric Carle, this story starts with a tiny egg on a leaf. The tiny egg hatches into a small very hungry caterpillar. On Monday, the caterpillar ate through one apple and Tuesday through Friday he ate even more fruit. After eating Monday through Friday, he was still hungry. For Saturday, he ate through chocolate cake, an ice cream cone, a pickle, a slice of cheese, a slice of salami, a lollipop, a piece of cherry pie, sausage, a cupcake and a piece of watermelon. On Sunday, he ate a green leaf and was finally full. The caterpillar wove himself a cocoon to sleep. Finally, a beautiful butterfly emerges from the cocoon. This story is illustrated with the use of painting and collage to create colorful images of the caterpillar, setting, and the

Finally, “…he was a beautiful butterfly.” The plot was appealing in that it was constantly progressing.

• The book develops a worthwhile theme both implicitly and explicitly. The explicit theme of this book is the process of metamorphosis. “He built a house called a cocoon…He stayed inside for more than two weeks…he was a beautiful butterfly”. The implicit theme could be that of the human creation. Humans start out as an “egg” or an embryo and change in the womb or “cocoon”. After birth “…push his way out”, there is a beautiful baby, “a beautiful butterfly.”

• The text and illustrations would encourage children to respond in a variety of ways. Children can figure out why the caterpillar changed into a butterfly. They can also explore what material or substance allowed the caterpillar to create the cocoon. Some children might want to know why the caterpillar only eats a hole through the food and not the whole