Charlie the Caterpillar

Charlie the Caterpillar is an all-time favorite picture book for many children. The story begins when Charlie, the Caterpillar, is born one sunny day and decides that he must go out and see the world around him. The young caterpillar comes into contact with a group of monkeys, rabbits, and mice, all of which will have nithing to do with the youngster because he was "ugly." Saddened at the previous events, the caterpillar spun himself into a cocoon. When he awoke, he was no longer an ugly creature that crept across the dirt floor, but rather he was a beautiful butterfly that spread across the afternoon sky. Upon seeing the transformed creature, the animals--which previously had nothing to do with Charlie--now desired to be his friend. He shrugged them off in the same manner that they had done to him and continued to fly until he found a baby caterpillar distressed at her appearance. She was upset because, in her opinion, she was ugly. Charlie spoke to her about the joys of becoming a butterfly and the two became best friends.

The story encompasses a moral that children should not let the world tell them their value, for one day they will be of great importance. De Luise, the author of Charlie the Caterpillar provides much repetition so that the reader can learn new vocabulary when seeing the word more than once. For example, each time the caterpillar faces a new situation he looks to his left and then he looks to his right. Not only is the story of great value, but the pictures contain so much color and are fun for little eyes to look at as the story is being read to them.