bro is a bigback

I’ve decided children’s books count towards my reading goal this year

A children's book classic. I recently gave our old family copy back to my sister so that she could entertain my nephew with this thrilling tale but I soon started to miss the book in my own collection. Therefore, I opted to re-buy a miniature version, which is perfect for multiple reasons: it doesn't take up nearly as much space as the big picture book version which is targeted at kids but I still get to enjoy the story and look at the pictures.

Rereading this book literally takes 5 minutes but it actually made me wonder what the purpose of this story (if there is any) is. I mean we get to follow a very hungry caterpillar that eats and eats throughout the week, then sleeps in a cocoon and wakes up as a beautiful butterfly. Is this supposed to be a metaphor for children growing into adults? I literally have no clue. One thing that's very evident are the patterns that come up in this book, especially those referencing days of the week and numbers. I can see how that's useful as an early teaching tool for pre-school kiddos. Apart from that, the story seems quite nonsensical to me – which is fine, and honestly a breath of fresh air. Not every book aimed at children needs to be this huge morality tale.

Anyways, the gimmick that I always enjoyed the most about this book (as a kid and as an adult!) is that some of its pages have holes in them to illustrate how the caterpillar eats its way through the food. It's so fun and clever. And little ol' 21st-century me is always fascinated when stuff like this is incorporated into books from literally 60-70 years ago. It's good to know the kids were always having fun!