The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Author and Illustrator: Eric Carle
Publisher: The World Publishing Company , USA, 1969, published by Puffin Books in this edition, 2002

I didn't like this book as a child; I have a memory of telling my playground leader this. She said she couldn't understand why I wouldn't like the book, I remember thinking 'because it goes on and on and I know what happens' but I couldn't articulate 'repetitive, very very repetitive' at the time. Do I like this book as an adult? Only if it's read in a certain way (which includes adding hyperbolic caterpillar gobbling noises on every page, to make it somewhat funnier). 

This book was being very heavily merchandised seven years ago when my first son was born. The characteristic primary colour dots used by Eric Carle on both outro and intro pages of The Very Hungry Caterpillar  where on curtains, bedding, clocks, money boxes, pyjamas. The dots were everywhere! I can see the appeal to babies, bright block colours, simple shapes, and I can see the appeal to parents, iconic gauche paper collage illustrations. The story itself is also very simplistic and teaches the egg-caterpillar- butterfly cycle, a mainstay of the early years curriculum ( what came first, Eric Carle's iconic preschooler book or catterpillars on the curriculum?!). Days of the week and counting are also part of this books 'teaching' , so in terms of educational value to toddlers this books must be very high. 

I prefer this book in the thick robust cardboard board book edition, as all that invitation to poke little fingers through the circular cut- outs of the fruit pictorials can get quite frantic, especially when a competing sibling is nearby / involved. The cocoon page is a bit ambiguous and has been likened by many 'helpful' older siblings to the mainstay of toilet humour. The double page spread of the butterfly to end the book is however, a really magical ending, and we like to flutter the book away ( opening and closing it rapidly) which toddlers seem to love. 

In all, it has its flaws, but The very hungry caterpillar enjoys too much popularity in contemporary culture to ever escape the colour, appeal, and enjoyment it brings. 

If you like this, you may also like this counting book: One Lonely Fish

Miffy's Birthday

Author and Illustrator: Dick Bruna
Publisher: original publication Mercis Publishing bv, 1970, featured edition Simon and Schuster UK, 2015
Original Translation: Patricia Crampton 1995, featured edition Tony Mitton 2014

Today we heard the sad news that Miffy creator Dick Bruna had died, promoting my daughter and I to revisit a book she used to love about a year ago, Miffy's Birthday. She still enjoyed Miffy ( at 3 and a half) but was a little more critical than before, 'why doesn't Miffy smile?' Yet this very point, the emotional void, was why Edie seemed to enjoy Miffy books aged two in the first place. They're very inclusive books at this age because there's no expectations or need to read faces and guess the emotion, and with Miffy, you'd draw a blank anyway, she always looks like this:

Now interestingly, Miffy's Birthday is all about emotion, namely how Miffy is feeling at  various points in the day. This disjuncture between the emotionless but iconic Miffy illustrations and the, at times sugary sounding, emotion-filled text does strangely work, and even make sense to very young children, whose emotions 'catch them up' in unexpected toddler outbursts. A good example of this disjuncture in the book is, 'She choose a pretty dress to wear, the prettiest she had. For it was Miffy's birthday and it showed that she was glad' - cut to Miffy with her characteristic non-expression 'x' mouth. Perhaps on the same principle then, Miffy might prove non threatening, so useful as a character, to introduce to children with a wide range of additional needs. (She wouldn't work for all - the flip side is that to others, her emotional vaguarity might be considered confusing).

Miffy works in a very similar vein to the Meg and Mog Series Jan Pienkowski, and it's no coincidence that they come from the same literary era. Both are simple to their core, slightly psychedelic in their colour scheme, thick bold colour background mattes with black outlines. Miffy has become her own trademark, a global image brand; she is safe, sellable, and translatable. She always looks the same, the rhyme is dependable (simple 4-line rhyme), she goes about doing simple things, like seeing her grandparents, receiving birthday presents, having a birthday tea. For a toddler this predictability is comforting, controlled, calming even. As an adult is gets very tiresome. Miffy books are reliable bedtime material for two year olds, and Dick Bruna deserves his place amongst children's literary legends, but I'm not so sure Miffy captures and keeps an adult audience as well, well at least not his one!

Hug

Author and Illustrator: Jez Alborough
Publisher: Walker Books, 2000, featured edition 2001

Hug has a place on our nurseryroom bookshelf, it might not be for every child though. It's a bright, funny, emotion rich book, containing one simple word, and one simple message - 'hug'! Actually the message is a little more flowery than that- everyone needs a hug, everyone wants a hug, the best hugs are from mums...we can hug to say thanks, group hugs mean celebration. Why not for 'every child' then? Well, because some children feel uncomfortable being hugged and that's ok. For us, the book was very useful as a way of inviting a hug with our newly placed adopted child, but it took a long time for a hug to be 'comfortable' or even sought (baby monkey Bobo is searching for a hug in the book). Bobo
eventually finds his hug, running into the arms of 'mummy' (it's a shame the parent was specified but then 'mummy' is quite an ambiguous term for 'loved one' to a toddler, at least it's a pretty transferable term in our house at the moment, 'mummy' being generic for mum, dad, siblings, anyone else, with our toddler).

The book relies on an enthusiastic adult reader making the most of their abilities in drama or performing arts to fully engage. If the adult is prepared to act like a crazed mime artist the children look on in bewilderment and enjoyment and soon ask for the book again (as with most comedic displays I suppose!) 

As for 'emotion rich', the book is clever and useful here; initially baby Bobo spots elephants hugging and looks interested, he then admires hugging chameleons, moving on to snakes, and finally he starts to look puzzled (where is his hug?). Wordlessly the other jungle animals gather round and look concerned for sad lonely looking Bobo. The elephant and her calf 

then help Bobo search for his hug/mum, and he increasingly looks on in jealousy, distress, 

panic as he fails to find his 'hug', watching a lion family hug, giraffes embrace, hippos snuggle. Bobo screams 'HUG' in despair as all the other animal gather and gasp. He sits on a rock and sobs. His crying is heard by his mummy, who shouts for him in delight. They embrace, surrounded by a rapturous applause from all the other animals. Bobo thanks the elephants for their help (with a hug), the animals celebrate by hugging. And all of that exposition is told through illustrations and one word alone, so it's very very clever! 

To reiterate though, sharing a hug, building this intimacy is not a given with all children, even toddlers, and it's good to respect this (so for example some children, but not all, with ASD and RAD). Yet Hug could be very useful with this group, especially as a means of talking through emotions, and discussing why the monkey searches for a hug. Before purchasing for a SEN or LAC library though, be aware that one of my children interpreted the monkey as 'lost' (thankfully not abandoned), and worried the monkey wasn't loved. This is a very simple, innocent, sweet, useful book, but it can pack a big punch. 

Dear Zoo

Author and Illustrator: Rod Campbell
Publisher: Campbell Books, first published 1982 by Abelard-Schuman Ltd

Tonight it's the turn of famous toddler board book 'Dear Zoo'. Simple, repetitive and formulaic, so perfect for babies and toddlers. A letter to the zoo returns eight surprise animals hidden in crates, boxes and baskets. The receiver is fussy and sends the animals back one-by-one based on their common characteristic, so, the camel was grumpy, the frog was jumpy and the dog? The puppy is perfect so the receiver keeps him. 

This is about as straightforward as a flap-book for toddlers gets, with pretty much the same sentence on every page ( about writing to the zoo) and then an opportunity to sneak a peak under the flap to understand the big reveal. Adjectives used are appropriate and characterise the animal hidden well. Our children provide their own sound effects for certain adjectives so 'grumpy' is accompanied by a huff, or for certain animals, so 'lion' is followed by a roar. For toddlers this is great as it invites joining in. I'm not sure that all families would agree that a puppy is 'perfect' though, especially one eating furniture or weeing where it shouldn't. 

Here's a slightly stern reading from the Book Trust:  A reading of Dear Zoo

One Lonely Fish

Concept and Design: Andy Mansfield
Illustrations: Thomas Flintham
Publisher: Templar Publishing, 2016

The full title of this book is: One Lonely Fish: A counting book with bite. It's one of my current favourite books for toddlers, and works especially well for those approaching or a few months following the age of 1, with a very straightforward concept (count-the-fish) and pages that can be easily turned by small hands.  

Counting gradually up from 1-10, on each page the landscape length on the book gains a new colourful fish, with its jaws wide open, enough to swallow up the fish ahead. This forms a neat queue (or chasing line) of fish until one giant fish eats the lot (broad smile on his face). Snap! The end. 

Following on from reading (though it feels more like playing with this book, rather than reading it), we've used the book to discuss why fish number ten might be lonely, and with older children, you might even get a chat about the food chain out of this this title. 
In terms of age range though, this is an exceptionally toddler-friendly book, as the pages are easy to turn with inverted triangle card cut-aways on each page for added 'turn-ability', and the pages are made of tough thick cardboard. It's a big robust book (a bit too big for standard bookshelves actually, so do think about finding accommodation for it elsewhere in a nursery bedroom). The fish illustrations are bright, predominately in primary colours, and the big jaws perspective on the final fish is playful. My three year old loves 'reading' this to her younger brother, and spotting the red crab on each page too. There's extra fun to be had if children dare put their own hand in the fish's mouth, and it bites shut. Lots of squeals of delight in my house from this book in that biting-hand off respect. 

One Lonely Fish feels a little like a hybrid between to Rob Campbell's 1996 Fishy Things and Rod Campbell's 2005 Touch and Feel I won't Bite. If you like both these titles you'll love One Lonely Fish too. 

And if you enjoy counting books with toddlers I also recommend this video of the band Feist singing 'counting to 4' on Sesame Street, uploaded to YouTube in 2008. My children love this rendition, but be warned, it's very catchy: Feist: Counting to Four video