The Ugly Caterpillar

Winner of the 2001 Benjamin Franklin Award
for Best Children's Picture Book

The Benjamin Franklin Award is a yearly event for Publishers Manufacturing Association.  Over 3,500 independent publishers belong to this organization.  Their judges come from various relevant disciplines and are considered experts in their fields.

Reviewer’s Choice—The Children’s Bookwatch

        “Speckles the spider and Crumbs the cricket think Katy the caterpillar is much to ugly to be their friend.  But Annie the ant doesn’t agree, and she and Katy become best friends.  As Katy the caterpillar begins her strange transformation into a beautiful butterfly, her friend Annie is shocked and amazed.  Speckles and Crumbs finally learn that true meaning of Beauty and friendship—and caterpillars?  This lively and original story of respect for others by Carl Sommer is perfectly illustrated in full color by Greg Budwine and is very highly recommended for young readers, grades K-4.”
The Children’s Bookwatch, June 2001

www.MyParentime.com website

When Annie the ant, Speckles the spider and Crumbs the cricket find a yellow egg on a leaf, they wonder what's inside. Crumbs and Speckles think that since the egg is ugly on the outside, what's living on the inside must also be ugly. Annie disagrees.
     In the book, "The Ugly Caterpillar," Annie is the only one who thinks "Katy the Caterpillar" is beautiful, and she is more than happy to be her friend.  During Annie and Katy's time together, Katy goes through many changes, and eventually turns into a butterfly. Annie thinks she's still beautiful. When Speckles and Crumbs meet Katy as a butterfly, they think she is beautiful and want to be her friend. But Katy explains that since they didn't like her as a caterpillar, they won't like her now...because she is still the same on the inside. Speckles and Crumbs feel terrible for treating Katy so badly when she was a caterpillar.
     MyParenTime.com highly recommends this book -- what a valuable lesson children will learn. You truly can't judge a book by it's cover.
     Also reviewed with this book: The Read-Along Story on CD-ROM. Hear this story while traveling, or play it for young readers to follow along with the book.
     My ParenTime