Fun fact for today? A famous picture book, described as “one of the greatest childhood classics of all time” was actually inspired by … a simple hole punch!
Yes, incredibly, it’s true. The author remembers:
“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.’”
But his editor suggested that readers may not like a green worm very much, and suggested a caterpillar instead. The idea appealed to Eric Carle, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the result.
“I said 'Butterfly!’ That’s how it began.” But did it begin there, or did it end? It’s rather like the chicken and the egg ...
The story starts on a moonlit night, with a tiny egg on a leaf. On the next morning, which is Sunday, a tiny red-faced caterpillar pops out of the egg. He’s very hungry, so he begins to look for some food. Over the next five days we see him eating through more and more fruit. There’s an apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four strawberries on Thursday, and five oranges on Friday … and then, on Saturday, he gobbles down an enormous feast of all sorts of silly food:
“On Saturday, he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.”
Of course by the end of the day, he feels very ill indeed, with a stomach ache. The next day though, another Sunday, he goes back to his more sensible diet, and eats through a large green leaf. He’s now a very big fat caterpillar! He spins a little house round himself called a cocoon and stays in there for a whole fortnight. And after that is the magic, which will entrance all young children, as of course the illustration shows the caterpillar emerging, transformed into a beautiful butterfly with large, glorious, multi-coloured wings.
This is a wonderful book for very young children. It introduces sound educational themes such as counting, the days of the week, foods, (although Saturday’s feast is a bit of a fantasy!) and the life cycle and transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. It is simple but accurate, and has been endorsed by the “Royal Entomological Society”.
It has to be said though, that its charm and novelty is its greatest asset. The pages are differently shaped, and have holes punched through to represent the caterpillar’s trail as he eats through all the various foods. Although The Very Hungry Caterpillar was first published in 1969, apparently it has sold the equivalent of a copy per minute ever since (30 million copies worldwide). It has won many awards for children’s literature, and also a major graphic design award. Eric Carle not only wrote it, but also designed and illustrated the book.
Quite an achievement, then, for a book which was inspired by a simple hole punch!