The Very Impatient Caterpillar

Tomi Ungerer thought that picture-book writers should make their own illustrations; I tend to agree. The pictures are an extension of the words; it's all one vision. Great books have been written "by committee": I'm thinking of "Curious George," "Bedtime for Frances," the Marshall/Karlin "Cinderella." But I have a soft spot for the books that emerge from just one brain, one pen.

Ross Burach is a young auteur living in Brooklyn. He is known for "I Love My Tutu Too," as well as "Truck Full of Ducks." Once, he took inspiration from Eric Carle, and he wrote the story of "The Very Impatient Caterpillar."

The joke is that one loony caterpillar is at war with himself; he understands that everything has its season, but he also wants to search for cosmic shortcuts. Distressed at the thought of captivity within his cocoon, he still tries to be a "good boy"; he buys a self-help book entitled You CAN Transform Your Life. But he is missing something, which is valuable advice from *other* insects. He can't take in this advice, because every time a friend begins speaking, he quickly says, "Right. Right." And his mind sends him spiraling.

I feel I'm meeting myself in these pages; something tells me I'm not alone.

The bugged-out eyes, the frayed antennae, the wrinkled "suit": God is (always) in the details.

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