'more please mummy' (The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle)

Member Name: Gretta

Product:	The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
Date:	28/03/01 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A book with a sort of charisma, that special something that kids can't resist.

Disadvantages: You will be reading it again, and again, and again (need I go on)

My first word was 'book'. I've always been immensely proud of this fact, I nearly added it as part of my profile, but somehow I managed to contain my pride. There, within 8 months of entering this world I had shone like a light, full of intelligent potential. Sadly not only was this was the height of my intellectualism, I didn't learn the lesson it taught, that first words aren't a physic guide to your future.

So when my beautiful, intelligent, well-behaved little angel, who shall henceforth be known as 'the perfect one' uttered his first two-syllable word, 'apple', I was in raptures. Everyone I knew, (and many who I didn't, I knew I kept those pizza delivery numbers for a reason) received a phone call, telling them of his intelligent and healthy first choice of word.

And how does this all relate to the book in question, I hear you ask. Well, the reason he learnt to say this word was not proof that my attempts at raising an organic eating, water drinking, sweet hating child were working, but merely because we had read this book so many times.

This book tells starts with an egg hatching into a hungry caterpillar. This happens at night, which I always find handy for a bedtime story, as even when Christian was very tiny he understood the 'look, the caterpillar sleeps at nighttime when the moons out, so should you' logic. Unfortunately, he's now cheeky enough to find a book with a picture of the sun in it and say 'not moontime mum, sunshine', but hey, it worked for a while.

I digress. Being a sensible young thing who has read all the relevant government advice on healthy eating, our caterpillar opts for an apple as his first snack. Without a nearby parent to puree, boil, freeze in an icecube tray etc., he decides to nibble a whole straight through. The book has a hole in the page, where he has nibbled, which, after at least 400 reads, 'the perfect one' is
still entertained by.

The plot carries on following the caterpillar's healthy diet through the week, eating an ever-increasing number of fruit. This is obviously great for early counting, as well as early vocabulary. As the same thing happens each day, just with a different fruit in ever-increasing numbers, the story is very repetitive and rhythmic. I think this may be what makes it so attractive to tiny babies. On Saturday however, the caterpillar binges on whatever he can find, lollypops and the like, with the obvious result of a tummy ache. What leads him to abandon his healthy life style is a mystery; Christian and I often debate this. I feel it was peer pressure and the excessive advertising and consumerism of our society, 'the precious one' argues it was because 'pears taste like cold potatoes mummy'. He being the expert on what raw potatos taste like, often being too impatient to wait for me to cook them, I bow to his superior knowledge.

So, we have a caterpillar with a tummyache, what does he do now? He decides to detox and stick to eating leaves. The book ends with him building a cocoon, and turning into a beautiful butterfly, (or flutterby if you're two, don't know why so many toddlers say this instead.) This obviously leads to learning for kids on basic nature studies, as well as firing up their imaginations over how other animals develop. 'Do mice become bats mum, after they live in their cocoons?'

A superbly illustrated book, with a magical quality about. I remember this book vividly from childhood; it has a timeless quality that keeps it fresh for every generation to discover. The hole in the page idea is so simple, but effective.

This book comes in a number of formats, large hardback and paperback, small hardback, and board book. I would recommend the board book, due to the holes, a two year old can find it all a bit too exciting sometimes, and stick their finger t
hrough the hole a bit too hard. You can often find it in jumble sales and charity shops, as its such a classic that has been around for years. If your library doesn’t' have a copy you need to change libraries, its such a classic they really should have at least one.

As I've mentioned throughout the opinion, endless educational potential, with the counting and nature aspects. Also good for early reading, due to repetition and clear text with simple vocabulary.

A wonderful book, that may well bring back memories for you as well. We never read it once, usually about three times in a row, he just can't get enough. I would also recommend any of Eric Carle's other childrens books.

And has Christian turned into a sweet and chocolate junky? No chance, mum eats all the choccy in the house before the men of the family get a look in. He's not too keen on apples though......

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