Guest writer Liat Ginsberg is a mother and former journalist for the Israeli newspaper, Maariv. She has taught at the Film and Media Department at Hunter College.

Before you bring your kids to new play The Very Hungry Caterpillar, created by Jonathan Rockefeller and based on the books written by Eric Carle, you have to prepare them that the show is about four different books which The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the last of those books. If not, your kids are going to drive you crazy asking tirelessly, “Where is the hungry caterpillar?”

The four books are: The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, The very lonely firefly, Mister Seahorse, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

About the The Very Hungry Caterpillar

In The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, the first thing you’ll notice is the bright colors. The audience is guided to pay attention to every color on the stage through the blank white stage. Even the puppeteers’ wear uniforms of white overalls. You will feel as if you are in a field of snow with colorful creatures walking graciously. The colors and the puppets look just like in the book.

Kids learn colors and use of their imagination. Each time the music changed we tried to guess what animal the artist would draw next: the green lion, pink rabbit, black polar bear, purple fox, or orange elephant who were made from puppets and walked gracefully on the stage.

My daughter noticed that the actor did not really draw the pictures and said enthusiastically, “I saw him, he did not draw the picture, that was pretend, he just turned the page”. Luckily, she only whispered it.

For toddlers, it was magical, most kids in the audience were glued to the stage, the colors, gentle music, the soft voices of the actors, the familiarity of the pictures and very slow movements made it familiar and interesting.

In Mister Seahorse, we are introduced to many nurturing sea creatures fathers, as if the seahorses came to teach us that fathers are as caring as mothers.

In The Very Lonely Firefly, a newly hatched lonely firefly takes us on his journey in the dark to seek friendship. It’s not easy for toddlers to find friends, not to mention adults.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar travels through the days of the week expanding his diet and his size. Soon he isn’t a little caterpillar any more.The younger kids were mesmerized, the older kids, who forgot the details of the book guessed which fruit the caterpillar ate next. The blueberries were very popular.

The play was very true to the books. It’s also great for a first theater event, good for babies and their older siblings who like to show off how much they know.

The show is playing from now to 3/27: Saturday at 11am & 2pm; Sunday 12pm & 3pm at 304 West 47th Street.

A Glow in the Dark Theatrical Experience of Eric Carle’s Treasured Stories

GuestBlogger — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 00:07:13 +0000

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is my all-time favorite childhood book. Similarly, my son is partial to Eric Carle and is a huge fan of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See and From Head to Toe.

So I jumped at the opportunity to take my son for a special “back screen pass” to Treasured Stories by Eric Carle at The Symphony Space today.

Located on the Upper West Side, this was our first time to The Symphony Space (Broadway & 95th Street) Darren Critz, Director of Family Programs, explained, “Going to see the arts is easy to do. Families can roll out of bed and come here.”

During our theater tour, my three year old son had the opportunity to turn the stage lights on. It was a special treat to be able to see the puppets backstage prior to the show.

The special effects were very impressive. It was really fun and exciting to watch The Very Hungry Caterpillar bite into the various food items. The caterpillar was also adorable as he wriggled and climbed across the tree and kicked the left-over food.

My son enjoyed identifying each of the animals, what color and the sound each made during Brown Bear, Brown Bear….He also danced around in his seat. I enjoyed watching the students eyes moving back and forth as they recited each of the animals in the finale of that story.

We were unfamiliar with the final story, Papa, Please Get The Moon For Me. While the sets were beautiful, we did prefer the former two stories which we know by heart and were reciting along with the narrator.

We will definitely be returning to Symphony Space again. I’ve marked my calendar for KamiKaze FireFlies on January 12, 2013. I feel so fortunate that my son has been exposed to performances at such a young age and is able to be well-behaved and sit through stage shows.

The Mermaid Theater of Nova Scotia’s new tour includes stops all over North America including shows in ME, VT, MA, CT, NY, ON, NJ, DC, BC, WA, CA, NM, AZ, NB, WI and more so you may still have an opportunity to catch it while it tours the country.

Symphony Space is located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Check out their listing of events for the 2012-2013 season here.

Lainie Gutterman is the founder and editor of Me, Myself & Baby I.

Disclosure: We were provided with complimentary tickets in exchange for coverage but all opinions expressed are original and our own.

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A Glow in the Dark Theatrical Experience of Eric Carle’s Treasured Stories