40 years of hunger and beauty
Hannah Tennant-Moore writes for Australia’s Babble.com that on the 40th anniversary of Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” we should celebrate the joy and innocence of childhood. In the story, eating is a joyful experience, free from the worries of waistline and whether a payday loan will be necessary to stock the fridge with that much food.
Carle himself had other worries when he was young.
Carle was born to German immigrants in New York. When he turned six, he moved to Germany with his family because his mother was homesick. Unfortunately, World War II was raging and Hitler was firmly in power. Strict discipline and the threat of bombing made a living nightmare out of what should have been a happy childhood.
Out of the past it comes
Eric’s father was physically able to fight, so the Nazis conscripted him for the war effort. This left young Eric and his mother to spend much of their time hiding in the family bomb shelter. Once the war was over, Carle’s father was shipped to a work camp. Two years later, he returned home a changed, broken man.
Out of chaos and struggle, Eric Carle dreamed of the America he knew as a little boy. An aspiring artist, he prepared for the journey and eventually made it back to the United States in 1952 to pursue his destiny. In tribute to his love for America, Carle made a career of creating unique children’s books that reflect his personal view of the American dream.
“With my books,” he says, “I try to recapture a period I should’ve had and didn’t – for more fun, more nonsense, more humor.”
A happy childhood
Tennant-Moore points out that while Carle has succeeded in those ways, Carle’s books also have “a hint of dark depth – the solitary caterpillar slowly eating his way through all of the treats he can get, as if no amount of food could quell his hunger.”
Carle hungers for a happy childhood. America hungers to achieve, to move forward. The road can be as monotonous as the seemingly endless consumption of fruits, vegetables and other foods by the very hungry caterpillar, but the creature is rewarded when it evolves into its ultimate form – a beautiful butterfly. Young readers emerge from their chrysalis transformed. The journey is worth it all.
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I read the Very Hungry Caterpillar as a child. I remember reading it, but I don’t remember too much about it – but this is actually very interesting. I had no idea he was a survivor of WW2 Germany. It’s actually kind of heart warming to hear his reasoning for writing a classic children’s novel.