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- The complete set of the board book & the number blocks, in the box
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- the beginning – the lonely egg
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- the egg has hatched!
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- His first meal – one apple
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- his second meal – two pears
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- Friday meal – 5 oranges!
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- Saturday all-you-can-eat buffet
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- detox plan in gear – one nice leaf
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- a big fat caterpillar
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- his cosy cocoon
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- a beautiful butterfly!
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- a puzzle mat for the blocks
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- number blocks
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- food buffet blocks
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- the little caterpillar
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- the beautiful butterfly
What is it?
The Very Hungry Caterpillar – board book
What’s the price?
RM54.90
Where to buy it?
What are the special features?
- A special edition board book, with number/picture blocks
- Comes with a storage box with plastic cover
- The blocks make several pictures – the caterpillar, the butterfly, a set of numbers 1-10, a set of colours & the food the caterpillar ate
- First ranking in Junior UK top 100 children books of all time
Review
Eric Carle is a much celebrated children’s book author & illustrator, and this book is the most famous & well-loved book he has ever authored. This book was pretty hard to find, and when I saw this particular boxed set at Kinokuniya (this was the last one on the shelf), I grabbed it without so much of a glance at the price at the back. I did flinch a little a bit when I saw how much it cost, but I did not hesitate for long.
The book tells a story about a little caterpillar’s life, just before it hatched out from its egg right up to its miraculous transformation into a butterfly. I guess new-born caterpillars are so ravenous because they need all that carbs to turn into a butterfly. That’s just my theory though, I’m not really sure.
So the little caterpillar ate one apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday and so it went on. On Saturday, he went all out with a buffet of cakes, ice creams, cheese and fruits and made himself sick that night. The next day he went on a detox diet of one green leaf, feeling much better afterwards. And yep, you guessed it – all that food took a tow on his little body – he was now a big, fat caterpillar. He built a cocoon around himself, stayed in there for two weeks, and when he pushed out from the cocoon; lo and behold, he was a beautiful butterfly.
As I’m not an artist, I can’t comment much on the illustrations, but I have to say, each picture is like a mini art show – you know those brush strokes on paintings you see at galleries? That’s what it seems like, to me. I found out from his website that his art is created in collage technique using hand painted papers, which he cuts and layers to form bright and cheerful images. The holes in the book show the caterpillar’s gastronomic journey, nibbling through all the foods.
The blocks form several different pictures from the book i.e. the butterfly, the caterpillar, a set of numbers from 1 to 10, a set of colours and visual proof of the food buffet he had. All these – the blocks and the book – can be kept in the box, closed with a transparent plastic cover.
What I like about it
I can see why this book is so popular; the combination of the artsy illustrations, the holey story line of a humble caterpillar’s transformation into a gorgeous butterfly, makes this book simply irresistible. It showcases one of God’s true miracles into bite-sized art, especially for children. How can you not love this?
What I don’t like about it
The price is outrageous (does that make me outrageous?), but then again, all imported books are. You can find other versions as above at various prices.
Conclusion
Even though this book is expensive, you can find other cheaper options, like I mentioned previously. But if you’re a book lover like me, I sure you’ll agree that this book is worth every cent.
SuperSavvyMoms, to the rescue! 
I like reading the hungry caterpillar to my baby brother because he really enjoys listening to it.