Happy birthday to Eric Carle's Caterpillar

Eric Carle's wonderful picture books really resonated with our family--I remember reading several of them over and over and over again to our daughters when they were toddlers--the rhythms, the repetitions, the patterns all enchanted my children and held them spellbound.  And, of course, the drawings!   Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?  and The Grouchy Ladybug were just a few of many of his books that captivated us, but The Very Hungry Caterpillar hold a very special place in our treasured memories of family times sharing books.

We weren't alone.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar celebrates its 40th anniversary this month, and the Telegraph reports it is still selling a copy every 30 seconds around the world.  The book has sold 29 million copies in 47 languages.  The L.A. Times Festival of Books adapted the Hungry Caterpillar theme for its own logo (shown above.)

The Telegraph reports on how the author came up with the idea for the book:

Mr Carle, who turns 80 this year, said he got the idea from a hole puncher.

"One day I was punching holes with a hole puncher into a stack of paper, and I thought of a bookworm and so I created a story called "A Week with Willi the Worm". Then my editor suggested a caterpillar instead and I said "Butterfly!" That's how it began," he said.

"I think The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a hopeful story, because it says 'you too little caterpillar can grow up, spread your wings and fly'. I think it is this message of hope that resonates for many readers."

Here is a link to a short video of Eric Carle drawing a butterfly and talking about the book on his website.  His message:   "growing up can be very difficult --  it's a big secret, it's a big challenge for children -- I like to help the children along." 

Ah yes, growing up can be difficult--but the magical combination of predictable patterns and rhythms and explosions of color that Eric Carle serendipitously concocted helps us all along.   It's been many years since I last read that book aloud to one of my children, but it still makes me smile.