the very hungry caterpillar is a children's picture book designed, illustrated, and written by eric carle, first published by the world publishing company in 1969, later published by penguin putnam. it features a caterpillar who eats his way through a wide variety of foodstuffs before pupating and emerging as a butterfly. the winner of many children's literature awards and a major graphic design award, it has sold almost 50 million copies worldwide. it has been described as having sold the equivalent of a copy per minute since its publication. it has been described as "one of the greatest childhood classics of all time." it was voted the number two children's picture book in a 2012 survey of "school library journal" readers.