You’re in the library with your three-year-old. He picks up a book from the shelf and brings it to you.
“The Very Naturalistic Yet Still Whimsical Caterpillar,” you say aloud. An anatomical illustration of the caterpillar — tentacles, head, true legs, spiracles, and prolegs clearly delineated — features on the front cover. You open to the first page.
“One Sunday morning, after two weeks of chewing through the hard outer shell of his egg, the caterpillar chewed a hole through the eggshell with its mandibles. It consumed the remainder of its protein-rich eggshell and then slinked away, whimsically, to forage plant leaves, stems, and flowers.”
End scene.
Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” (TVHC) has been the subject of aesthetic discourse on X in recent days. (To preempt the accusations that I’m taking children’s literature too seriously: Yes, that is what I do. See here.)
The commotion kicked off with a tweet from Megha Lillywhite.
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