• Story Time: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

• Story Time: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Review

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What a perfect Spring day when we celebrated The Very Hungry Caterpillar Day on 22 March at Kiddyland!

All the children were excited about wearing the caterpillar hairband from the publisher to mark the 45th anniversary of this best loved classic!

Pauline Young, our storyteller, started off with an introduction to Eric Carle and his books that have been children's favourites all over the world over the last few decades.

As she told how the a little egg emerged in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, our young audience were thrilled to take part, curling up their bodies the best they could to mimic a tiny egg. They also had great fun munching along with the very hungry caterpillar and chanting the days of the week together as it munched a different fruit each day. When the caterpillar eventually pushed its way through the cocoon, the children spread their arms as wide as they could, pretending they were the butterfly the caterpillar eventually turned into.

Pauline then led the children to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider before she read another of Eric Carle's best loved story, The Very Busy Spider. The children sang with zest and it was followed by Old MacDonald Had a Farm as everyone thought that the spider would also be there making a sound just like the other animals! The story of how the busy spider's focus on hard work paid off captivated the young audience when the spider successfully caught its first prey.

Pauline gave us recommendations of more of the author's fascinating books, highlighting the beautiful chirp in The Very Quiet Cricket and the "light-up" in The Very Lonely Firefly which really surprised our young readers.

We closed the session singing Happy Birthday to The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Thank you, Pauline, for reading.

Thank you, children, for coming.

Last but not least, thank you, Eric Carle, for brightening children's lives with your wonderful stories.