The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle Reviewed by Ana Kaleel

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a good book for young children to read. The book starts with a caterpillar coming from an egg and is very hungry. He then eats his way through different types of foods each day. For example, he eats one apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday... and so on. By the end of the week the caterpillar eats so much that that he is not hungry or either little anymore. He then builds a cocoon and sleeps in it for a couple of weeks. When he wakes up he is a beautiful butterfly. While reading this book I noticed that each page was so vivid in detail. I felt just like a little kid because as I was reading I caught myself sticking my fingers through the holes in the book where the caterpillar had already eaten his way through.

I believe that I could use this book in many different ways in my classroom because it touches on a variety of subjects. For example, I could use it as a math lesson. The caterpillar eats his way from one food to the next and I could get my class to count the number of different foods he eats or the number in each set of food he eats, like three plums on Wednesday. Another way I could use the book in my classroom is when teaching the days of the week because the author goes through each day of the week. This would be a great way for my class to interact by practicing the days as we go through them in the book. However, I think the best way I could use this book in my classroom is through a science lesson. Learning the development of a caterpillar was one of my earliest science lessons I remember. Eric Carle puts the development of a caterpillar into a butterfly in an easy way for children to understand. I think this is a good way to learn the different stages of a butterfly. As a whole, this is a very useful book that many teachers are able to use in their classrooms. I would definitely like to use this book in my classroom when I begin my career in teaching.