Read it or Weep

The Very Hungry Caterpillar March 17, 2009

March 20th marks the 40th anniversary of Eric Carle’s beloved children’s picture book titled The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the colorful story of a caterpillar’s transformation into a butterfly.  On a recent interview with National Public Radio, Mr. Carle admitted that his fascination with color stems from a dark childhood in Nazi Germany. “During the war, there were no colors, no – there was no fashion. People didn’t have colorful scarves. Everything was gray and brown and the cities were all – (unintelligible) to houses were camouflaged with grays and greens and brown greens and gray greens or brown greens, and – there was no color. Then after the war, I became more familiar with abstract artists (ph) and especially the impressionists – color, color, color.”

The Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold more than

29 million copies

and has been translated into more than 47 languages.

Congratulations Mr. Carle!

~ Emma