Possibly the most famous and widely read children’s board book around, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a cleverly crafted book that uses a deceptively simple story of a very hungry little caterpillar to integrate myriad concepts like different types of food, days of the week, counting — and it even touches on the life cycle of a butterfly!

Besides the colourful, almost collage-like artwork — particularly the grand spread at the end — the pages with food have little circular cutouts to simulate the caterpillar munching through them — a brilliant detail designed by the author to engage the young reader in a tactile manner. A well-thought-out book that deserves all the hype it gets. Also great when translated into Chinese: 好饿的毛毛虫.

Here’s an animated video reading of the book: