For my sister Christa

In the light
of the moon
a little egg
lay on a leaf.

One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and— pop!— out of the egg
came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.

He started to look for some food.

On Monday
he ate through
one apple.
But he was still
hungry.

He started to look for some food.

On Tuesday
he ate through
two pears,
but he was
still hungry.

He started to look for some food.

On Wednesday
he ate through
three plums,
but he was still
hungry.

He started to look for some foo

On Thursday
he ate through
four strawberries,
but he was still
hungry.

He started to

On Friday
he ate through
five oranges,
but he was still
hungry.

On Saturday
he ate through
one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle,
one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie,

one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.

That night he had a stomachache!

The next day was Sunday again.
The caterpillar ate through
one nice green leaf,
and after that he felt
much better.

Now he wasn’t hungry any more— and he wasn’t a little caterpillar any more.
He was a big, fat caterpillar.

He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself. He stayed inside for
more than two weeks. Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and…

he was a beautiful butterfly!

PUFFIN BOOKS

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Copyright © 1969 and 1987 by Eric Carle

eISBN 978-0-1413-8576-1

Eric Carle’s name and his signature logotype are trademarks of Eric Carle

To find out more about Eric Carle and his books, please visit eric-carle.com

To learn about The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, please visit carlemuseum.org

global.penguinrandomhouse.com

puffin.co.uk

eric-carle.com

carlemuseum.org

PUFFIN BOOKS

UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia | India | New Zealand | South Africa

Puffin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies

whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

puffin.co.uk

Copyright © 1969 and 1987 by Eric Carle

eISBN 978-0-1413-8576-1

Eric Carle’s name and his signature logotype are trademarks of Eric Carle

To find out more about Eric Carle and his books, please visit eric-carle.com

To learn about The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, please visit carlemuseum.org