When a fictional caterpillar chomps through one apple, two pears, three plums, four strawberries, five oranges, one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake and one slice of watermelon, it might get a stomach ache.
But it might also become the star of one of the bestselling children’s books of all time.
Eric Carle, the artist and author who created that creature in his book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” a tale that has charmed generations of children and parents alike, died Sunday at his summer studio in Northampton, Mass. He was 91.