Do I need to introduce Eric Carle? If you are a mom, I am sure you know who is he. He is the author who wrote the famous Caterpillar book – The Hungry Caterpillar. This renowned author has around 70 more books to his credit (each one as good as the other). He is also a master illustrator, who created all the bright and colourful images that our kids enjoy while reading.

What I like about Eric Carle books are – 

1. Illustrations– that are mostly colorful, large collages made with hand-painted paper
2. Language – simple, easy to be read aloud to even young kids
3. New concepts– there is so much scope to make kids learn new concepts via his books – talk about days, numbers, colours, etc. 

Best Eric Carle Books For Toddlers 

1.The Very Hungry Caterpillar 

Starting with The Very Hungry Caterpillar – one of the first books that I read to A&A and they enjoy it even at the age of 4. It tells the journey of a hungry caterpillar who eats an assortment of foods-both healthy and unhealthy, before he grows into a beautiful butterfly. The book is valuable to teach kids about counting, days of the week, good nutrition, etc – all in a fun way. 

2.The Grouchy Ladybug

A grouchy and arrogant ladybug challenges another ladybug to fight because she doesn’t want to share her aphids. But before the fight begins, she feels the ladybug she challenged isn’t big enough to be worth her time. So, she goes off to challenges all kinds of animals for a fight – until she meets a whale, who makes her learn a lesson. The book is good to teach kids about social behavior, good manners and cheerfulness.

3. From Head To Toe 

The book is more of an exercise book for kids. Each page features an animal and an action/motion for the child to mimic with a question – ‘Can You do it’? The reply in each case is ‘Yes I can do it’.  The book will get young kids clapping their hands, stomping their feet, etc through simple instructions. Kids can learn the importance of listening, exercising and even taking new challenges confidently through this book.

4. Papa, Please Get The Moon For Me 

This books is a sweet and imaginative tale of a father’s love for his daughter. A little girl wants the moon to play with, so her father climbs up a ladder to get it for her. But soon she finds out that her new playmate doesn’t remain the same size for long. The book can teach kids about the phases of moon. It aloo comes with beautiful illustrations and dramatic fold-out pages to catch their attention.

5. The Mixed-up Chameleon

A bored chameleon wishes it could be more like other animals. So he visits a zoo and sees other animals and wishes he could be like each of them. But he becomes so mixed up trying to be like all other animals that he can’t even catch a fly anymore. So he wishes to be himself again. The pictures in the book are captivating as well as hilarious, and give a simple message – be yourself and enjoy your uniqueness. It’s also a good book to stimulate discussions about differences and similarities between various animals etc. 

So have you read these books to your kids? There are many more wonderful reads by Carle but these ones have been A&A’s favorite so far. 

This post is a part of Blogchatter’s A2Z challenge – #BlogchatterA2Z  on the alphabet ‘D’. My theme for this challenge is ‘Books for Kids’. You can find all 26 posts on this topic under the hashtags #themomsagas_books on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.