BOOK GUIDE sheet:The very hungry caterpillar, By eric carle

Supporting literacy development & school readiness.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a story about a caterpillar that eats his way through a lot of food before becoming a beautiful butterfly. This book provides opportunities for the children in your care to develop math readiness through counting, science and investigatory skills by following the life cycle of a butterfly, and early literacy skills through naming colors, foods, and the days of the week.

INtroducing the book

Sing a story time song!

  • This increases engagement and builds a routine, so children know what to expect.

Discuss the book cover before reading.

  • This is a good way to ease into the book and converse. Ask children if they know what animal is featured on the cover. Where do they live?

Introduce characters and concepts beforehand.

  • What foods do caterpillars eat? Does anyone know what caterpillars become?
Reading the book

Use the illustrations to discuss:

  • Colors:Yellow sun;greenpears;redstrawberries; green leaf
  • Shapes and sizes:Roundsun;pearshape;triangle pie and cone;pointy watermelon; big caterpillar
  • Numbers:How many legs does the caterpillar have? How many holes are on each page?
  • Relationships:The caterpillar ate through the food; He stayedinside the cocoon

Invite children to relate parts of the story to their own experiences.

  • What do you like to eat? Have you ever had a stomachache?
  • What do you do on certain days of the week? Mondays? Thursdays?
  • Have you ever seen a caterpillar? How about a butterfly?

Have the children reason things out, predict, and make choices.

  • What do you think will happen if the caterpillar eats too much?
  • What do you think the caterpillar does inside the cocoon?
  • Can you find the ______? Where is the color ______?

Break up the reading and increase engagement by providing opportunities for group movement.

  • Set up hula hoops or a table or chair that children can safely move through, pretending to be the caterpillar eating yummy foods! Ask what foods they are eating through.
  • Can we move like caterpillars? Let’s pretend to be in a cocoon. Now spread your wings like a butterfly!

© The Parent-Child Home Program, 2017