Who wrote 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar was written by Eric Carle. Carle also illustrated the book, creating its instantly recognizable collages of brightly colored painted tissue paper.

First published in 1969, the picture book follows a caterpillar as it eats through different foods, develops a stomachache, and eventually transforms into a butterfly. Its simple sequence teaches counting, the days of the week, food vocabulary, and the broad idea of metamorphosis. The pages vary in size and include holes where the caterpillar has eaten through the food.

The story began as an idea called A Week with Willi the Worm. Carle's editor, Ann Beneduce, suggested changing the protagonist from a worm to a caterpillar. Carle was inspired by a hole punch and by unusually shaped books he had encountered as a child in Germany. A common scientific quibble is that butterflies emerge from chrysalises rather than cocoons, but Carle defended the book's poetic wording.