Walking into the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven exhibit at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago I couldn't help but recite in my head the lines I knew so well from the Eric Carle book 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar"
My copy of the often requested book has become slightly battered from all the times I have read it aloud with a small child sitting on my lap.
The book starts out with '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
We then read about the hungry caterpillar eating many types of food, some of which are very silly, until he becomes a big fat caterpillar and builds a house around himself.
apples, pears, plums, oranges, strawberries, chocolate cake, ice cream, a pickle, swiss cheese, salami, a lollipop, cherry pie, sausage, a cupcake, …
When he emerges a few weeks later our caterpillar friend has become A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY!
From the look of awe and delight on the children's faces when the newly emerged butterflies are released I have to believe that The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been a favorite book of theirs, too!
1000s of butterflies! There are butterflies everywhere!
All photos are from my family albums.
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