Seeing this took me waaaaay back. I just had to wish a happy 40th anniversary to The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I loved this book when I was little. I can't believe it was first published so long ago, but seeing as Big Sis gave me a copy maybe 20 years ago, I guess it's possible! :o) I love illustrations for children's literature. Eric Carle's artwork in this book is so simple, but was so vivid to me as a child. I found out this morning from his 60 Seconds interview with The Metro that the bold colours he uses in his illustrations were a reaction to living in Germany during WWII, when the buildings were camouflaged by being painted in greys and browns. Learning about the Impressionists at art school after the war was the perfect antidote to the drab landscape he had been used to.In this an article in The Telegraph, Carle describes the storyline of the book as being 'hopeful,' because of the notion that every little caterpillar will grow up, spread its wings and fly off as a beautiful butterfly. How lovely. I mainly just liked the fact that the caterpillar ate lots of yummy food. I could relate. Hmm, I guess the subtle metaphor for the beauty of the maturing process missed me completely, huh? Oh well. Happy Birthday, Hungry!
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