The Caterpillar Story
Have you seen beautiful butterflies in all colours and different patterns? Aren’t they amazing? But do you know how a butterfly is formed? Here is a short caterpillar story about its life cycle, presented with a very unique and interesting angle such that it teaches children different life lessons.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of the most popular children’s tales of all time in which a caterpillar is always hungry and eats whatever he finds, until the end where he metamorphosizes into a butterfly! The caterpillar story has been adapted from the original work of Eric Carle.
Let’s read about the journey of this caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
One Sunday morning, a tiny egg laying on a leaf hatched under the warmth of the sun. Pop! Out came a small and very hungry caterpillar. The newly-born caterpillar soon began to look for something to eat. He ate increasing quantities of fruits each day, on all the weekdays but after each day he still felt hungry. On Monday, he had an apple and on Tuesday, he ate two pears. But he was still hungry.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eating an Apple on Monday
On Wednesday, the caterpillar ate three plums and on Thursday he found four strawberries to eat. On Friday, he ate through five oranges, but still he could not satiate his hunger. So, on Saturday, the caterpillar gave up on fruits and ate one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, a slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, a sausage, one cupcake and a slice of watermelon. Overeating that night gave him a stomachache.
The caterpillar eating through a pizza slice
Now, the next morning it was Sunday again. On Sunday, the caterpillar decided on one nice green leaf, as no other food felt enough for him. After eating the green leaf, the caterpillar felt much better and, finally, he was not hungry anymore. Also, he was not a tiny caterpillar anymore. He had become a big, fat caterpillar.
The caterpillar through a nice green leaf
So, the caterpillar built a small house around himself, called a cocoon. After staying in it for more than two weeks, the caterpillar nibbled a hole in the cocoon and came out. He came out as a beautiful butterfly. He had turned into the most beautiful butterfly on the earth, with multi-coloured wings.
The caterpillar emerges from his cocoon as a butterfly
Conclusion
The caterpillar story by Eric Carle talks about various things in a very witty way. In this short story, a tiny caterpillar emerges from an egg and begins to eat more and more with each passing day until it falls ill. After six days of eating fruits and “junk” food, a “nice green leaf” is all it takes to make the caterpillar feel better. Eating the right thing helped the caterpillar to grow into a butterfly.
This story for kids is full of morals related to eating healthy, well-being, growth and transformation.
FAQs on The Very Hungry Caterpillar Story for Kids
1. What life lessons does one learn from the caterpillar story?
In the caterpillar story, just like the caterpillar gobbles up unhealthy food that makes him feel bad afterwards, we may also consume some things in life that makes us feel bad afterwards. Therefore, we can learn self-control from this. It is important to know where to draw a boundary when practising freedom of choice. Also, the caterpillar turning into a butterfly shows that growth and change is important and we should not be afraid of it. Sometimes our negative experiences can motivate us to change or grow.
2. How does the caterpillar grow in the story?
The caterpillar grows both physically and mentally in the story. The tiny caterpillar grew into a ‘big, fat’ one after eating all the junk food for over six days. Then he grew into a beautiful butterfly as he matured. He grew mentally as he learnt his lesson of self-control after he suffered from a stomach ache from eating all that food not meant for him.
