Reading to your children !
By oldchem1
@oldchem1 (8132)
June 26, 2010 4:09am CST
I would imagine were I to say The Very Hungry Caterpillarmany of you reading this discussion will remember having this book read to you as a child - I certainly remember reading it to all my children (and the eldest is now 39) and they in turn have read it to their children.
The book is available in both hard back and paper back and in a large and small book, a board book all containing 22 - 26 pages. And from March 2009 a pop up edition has also been available, it was brought out to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the book.
Such is the popularity of the book that in March 2009 Google changed its logo to celebrate the anniversary.
This was all of my children's favourite first book, and I can remember reading it to all of them - with the same response, they would all recite the words that were to come from each page just before I turned it over and they would be so happy when they heard me read the words that they had remembered. All of them would push the tips of their fingers through the holes while I was reading it to them.
I suspect that most of you will remember the first line of the book
"In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf."
that little egg hatches one sunny Sunday and what should come out but a VERY tiny and a VERY hungry little caterpillar.
The writer and illustrator is Eric Carle, and his distinctive collage type illustrations are very pretty and haven't dated at all in the book's 40 year life. Each page contains one simple sentence that is easily remembered by children and helps with their reading.
It is an ideal book to read to babies and toddlers, an ideal first book for reading. It is also a great teaching aid teaching nutrition, counting, science - (introducing the various stages of a butterfly) and learning the days of the week.
This is will surely continue to be a children's favourite for many, many years to come - deservedly so.
What is the book that you most remember reading to your kids - or even having had read to you?
2 people like this
9 responses
@rosie230 (1700)
•
26 Jun 10
OOOO... I have this book LOL... it was Jason's (my eldest) but now I read it to Justin, as he loves books. It is a great story and one that schools have for their pupils, this is how I got it for Jason, because he loved the story at school and wanted it for himself. Once they spent time studying it, he came home one day at the age of 6 I think and said "Mummy... Do you know what Metamorphosis is?". I was completely taken back by it, but he then went on to explain, and then the hunt for caterpillars, because he wanted to see it happen himself. He also reads that book to Justin. Also I love Winnie The Pooh stories.
When I was small I had books like the Mr Men, Winnie The Pooh, from what I remember, but there were also big books with Fairytales that I absolutely adored. My favourite Fairy Tale story was Rumplestiltskin (not sure I spelt that right lol), but I would read that story over and over again! My Mum still has that book, so she reads my kids stories from it now.
1 person likes this
@karen1969 (1779)
•
30 Jun 10
I loved Rumpelstiltskin too especially the part where they had to guess his name. I had it in a Ladybird book, do you remember those? I had Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Princess and the Pea, all that kind of thing.
@GardenGerty (169448)
• United States
26 Jun 10
I love books with Eric CArle collages. I have read several of them. I also checked out lots of beautiful books by Anno, such as Anno's Alphabet that I remember reading to my kids. I do not have a solid memory of any one being a favorite, and the kiddos read really well at a young age. One I recall, and I know they asked for all of the time was Rain Makes Applesauce. They do not remember it, however, until I go check it out again, for my pleasure. It is both nonsensical and logical at the same time and the illustrations are done in a light, ethereal hand, and make me think of fairies.
1 person likes this
@karen1969 (1779)
•
30 Jun 10
As you know, I love The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Another book my children really loved was The Tiger Who Came To Tea, which is a great book too. Then there were the Mog books, including the one where Mog got rewarded with an egg for catching a burglar, I think it was. Then there was a book about a dinosaur called Tyrone which my kids loved too.
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
26 Jun 10
I don't recall my parents ever reading to me, although I'm sure they did. My daughter's favorite book when she was little was "I'll Love You Forever". I couldn't read it after a while because the book makes me cry every time. My sadistic daughter loves to see me cry. lol 
1 person likes this
@marguicha (230350)
• Chile
5 Dec 12
I don`t know that book but I love what you tell us. I will see if it`s in Spanish to buy it for my younger granddaughter. I can understand, from what you tell, about the popularity of the story. I also loved the title
@Albert1989 (372)
• Malaysia
12 Jul 10
Hmn,reading to children is fun and one of the best ways to help prepare them for school as well as prepare them to school.
Children can learn about the value and importance of reading as they listen their parents reading and writing in everyday life.
Parents can do this everywhere they where. Reading a novel, sharing a story, using a recipe, making a shopping list for shopping, writing a birthday card or reading a street sign for their children.
There are some ways that can used by parents at home:
1-Involve child in everyday conversation from an early age.
2-Read aloud to child because it will help them learn the language from the books and practice their listening skill.
3-Try not to let TV intrude on reading times. Parents should set aside some uninterrupted time to read books for them.
4-After a certain period of time, parents can listen to their child reading the books, even if only short sentences.
@leeandrew (1225)
• Philippines
1 Dec 12
Since my baby was months old only, I started reading books with her. Now she's seventeen months old and whenever she gets her books she pretended she's reading and she bubbles some words that no one understands. It's funny to see her doing that, but I know that she took that from me.
Probably the she too did not understand the words I say, and she just should everyone how we sounds when we read to her. 
My baby is a very smart girl. She'll imitate what people around her does all the time. She picks up the phone and talk like an adult because she saw that with us. The things is... no one understand what she's talking about.
My baby is a very smart girl. She'll imitate what people around her does all the time. She picks up the phone and talk like an adult because she saw that with us. The things is... no one understand what she's talking about.