The Very Impatient Caterpillar

PreS-Gr 1–When an inquisitive caterpillar sees a bunch of his friends climb up a tree, he questions their unusual behavior. They explain that it is time to "metamorphosize." Using dialogue, Burach concisely walks readers through the metamorphosis process, following a repeating question and answer formula. At each stage, the clueless caterpillar asks the others what is going on, pretends to have known all along with a "Right. Right," and then proceeds to demonstrate a total lack of patience. Unsurprisingly, his first attempt ends in failure, thus causing the impetus for an inner change, which brings about the outer one. Burach's dialogue is spot-on, and if told by an expressive storyteller, should produce a lot of laughter. His style will delight fans of Mo Willems's "Pigeon" series. Thanks to the humorous designs and the bold exclamatory text, the book would make an excellent candidate for read-alouds.