The Very Hungry Caterpillar Children’s Book Review

Our copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Is it ever too early for children to start reading and learning?  As a parent and now grandparent we began reading to our children and grandchildren when they were just babies, as I’m sure many of you do.

One of our grandson’s favorite books, when he was a toddler, was The Very Hungry Caterpillar, By Eric Carle. This book also became a favorite of ours.

The story starts on Sunday with the birth of a little caterpillar who is very hungry. The little caterpillar begins to eat his way through each day of the week. The book is very well illustrated with each day of the week and the food that the little caterpillar eats. 

The fruits and food on the pages of the book that he eats even have little holes punched in the food for each day of the week. This shows the children that the little caterpillar has eaten through it.

On Saturday the caterpillar eats through a whole lot of food and has a stomachache. On Sunday he eats one green leaf and now is a big fat, satisfied caterpillar. 

The caterpillar builds himself a cocoon, and in two weeks nibbles, his way out and is a beautiful colorful butterfly.

Our grandson learned the days of the week very quickly, as just a little guy. We would point to each of the foods that the caterpillar ate and he was able to name the food. Soon he was reading each day of the week and what food the caterpillar ate to us.

His amazement as we turned to the last page when the caterpillar turns into a beautiful colorful butterfly. The look on his face was priceless.  

Not only the first time but every time we read this book, as we would have to read it over and over again. Thank you, Eric Carle, for giving me this pleasure with my children, and now my grandchildren.

About the Author:

Eric Carle was born in 1929 and became a designer, illustrator, and writer of children’s books. He has illustrated and written more than 70 books and is most famous for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. There have been more than 162 million copies of his books sold around the world.

His knowledge and love for nature are the themes he writes into his books.  He believes his books bridge the gap between home and school. To him, a home represents warmth and security, and school is a strange new place with new people and surroundings.
 

Independence Day Movie Review

Independence Day, released on July 2^nd, 1996, and was dubbed a science fiction disaster film. After enjoying this movie, I think it had a little of everything, along with the science fiction disaster, there was also action, adventure, comedy, and romance.

 Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller and Bill Pullman as President Whitmore make a great combination as two of the main characters, highlighting an all-star cast of characters for this movie.

An Alien mother ship sends out spacecraft over Earth’s major cities. Jeff Goldblum plays David Levinson a computer expert. David figures out the alien’s transmissions to be a timer coordinating their attack on the world.

David makes way to the White House, with his father played by Judd Hirsch. David’s ex-wife Margaret Colin as Constance Spano happens to be the White House Communications Director. She helps them get to the Oval Office to warn the President, but it’s too late, they need to get out of the White House and onto Air Force One, as the attack begins.

During the assault, and the counter-attack by the United States, Captain Hiller, a fighter pilot lures one of the alien fighters over the Grand Canyon causing it to crash. After the crash, he jumps up onto the alien ship opens the door and knocks him out, and begins to drag the alien across the desert. I just could not stop laughing, as the scene progressed.

Hiller and the alien are picked up by a convoy trying to escape the attacks, ending up in Area 51 where Air Force One has landed. All attacks on the alien mother ship have failed to this point. This is when Levinson figures out how to bring down the mother ship.

Many of you have seen this movie but just in case you haven’t I’ll stop here as not to spoil the what, and how the plan is carried out.

This movie has it all, as it took me through many emotions throughout the film. Hilarious as I was laughing out loud, sad at times ready to cry, sitting on the edge of my seat adventure and action.

Near the end of the movie President Whitmore’s (Bill Pullman) speech has been widely criticized for many reasons. I found the speech to be both patriotic and moving and thought it to be one of the best parts of the film.

 Independence Day: Resurgence was released in June of 2016, and is the sequel to Independence Day. So, why not watch them together for an Independence Day Celebration.