The Procrastinating Caterpillar by Lyn Pedano

• 11/18/2013
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The Procrastinating Caterpillar
Lyn Pedano
Mirror Publishing (2009)
ISBN 9781936046096
Reviewed by Cayden Aures (age 5) and Mom for Reader Views (7/09)

“The Procrastinating Caterpillar” is about a caterpillar who doesn’t want to build a cocoon and change into a butterfly.  He wants to stick with what he already knows instead of venture into unknown territory.

Cayden:  “I like caterpillars.  We see a lot of them by our house.  The one in the book is scared to make a cocoon.  I get scared to do some things too, like him.  Why does that butterfly keep saying that the caterpillar is going to get smushed?  They can crawl away and hide sometimes.  Sometimes things happen to butterflies too like they get hit by cars.  I like how the book rhymed.”

Parent’s comments:
I like that the caterpillar overcomes his fears and takes a step into the unknown as I feel that this is a good lesson for young children.  However, as my son said, the butterfly seems to focus on all of the negatives of being a caterpillar like “being eaten by a cat or chewed on by a rat” and telling him that he needs to build a cocoon right away or he “will be bound for doom and gloom.”  Despite this, the overall message in “The Procrastinating Caterpillar” by Lyn Pedano is a good one and even better is that 20% of the proceeds of the book go to a Project Night Night which provides homeless children with blankets, books, and stuffed animals.