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From School Library Journal

March 29, 2024

Baby-Toddler-In the shape of a basket comes another sturdy board book featuring fan-favorite The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This time, the caterpillar is hiding in baskets among tasty treats, bunnies, eggs, chocolates, and more. Young children will find joy in the search for the caterpillar on each spread, ending with a playful "PEEKABOO! We found you!" While lacking the interactive flaps common in these books, the story's charm and engaging search-and-find element will ensure its appeal to young readers year after year. The illustrations maintain their timeless allure: each page is adorned with a vibrantly colored basket brimming with spring-themed objects. Text is presented in large, simple fonts with each page's focus highlighted in a matching colored font, corresponding to the basket's hue in that spread. VERDICT While not the best Easter board book around, this is a valuable addition to holiday collections, particularly for enthusiasts of the series.-Kirsten Caldwell

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From School Library Journal

September 9, 2022

Baby-Toddler-This Christmas tree-shaped book is a fun seek-and-find adventure featuring Carle's beloved classic character The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Each spread shows the same tree with different colors and decorations, including candy treats, ornaments, and snowflakes. The text is simple, colorful, and features descriptions of decorations along with prompts for the reader to search and find where The Very Hungry Caterpillar is hiding on or around the tree. This board book has a creative silhouette and no touch-and-feel or lift-the-flap parts, which will make it much more durable than some alternatives. VERDICT A great addition to any Christmas collection. Young readers will love the seek-and-find activity, while adults will delight in seeing this classic character featured.-Melanie Leivers

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Horn Book

July 1, 2018
Carle's beloved caterpillar shows up on almost every page of these book-length, story-free greeting cards. Young kids will be drawn to Carle's recognizable bright and cheery illustrations, but they're unlikely to care much about the texts' sentiments: "Thanks for reminding me...to dream of a peaceful world." Christmas works better as a picture book than Thanks.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From AudioFile Magazine

This audiobook includes two versions of the late Eric Carle's classic story, both equally delightful in different ways. The first version is brought joyfully to life by narrator Kevin R. Free with vivid sound effects and music. Kids will laugh out loud as the hungry young caterpillar audibly chomps, crunches, and crinkles its way through all kinds of food until it is full. The second version is a special read-along track of Carle narrating slowly and simply in a gruff, friendly voice with a slight German accent. Both productions are a great way to encounter Carle's famous caterpillar, and listeners will definitely want to view the iconic illustrations as they hear the story. S.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

From Kirkus

Carle's famous caterpillar expresses its love. In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book's 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, "That's why... / I[heart]U." There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. "You are... / ...so sweet," proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it's munched in a strawberry; "...the cherry on my cake," it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; "...the apple of my eye," it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that "you make... / ...the sun shine brighter / ...the stars sparkle," and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 3/4 inches across when closed--probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic's charm. The melding of Carle's caterpillar with Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE on the book's cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature. Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)

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