The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I'm guessing most moms of toddlers have read this book, and most probably own it. A lot of my friends are/were teachers, so many of you have probably read this one as well. We got this book as a gift at one of Jackson's baby showers. Jason went through and picked out a few children's books to put on our gift registry, and was so thrilled when we got this one. Well, this book has been sitting on Jack's bookshelf until he pulled it off a week or so ago. It is always on the rocker in our playroom now. We read it several times a day. Jack loves this book! He squeals with delight that the caterpillar gets to eat chocolate cake, AND an ice cream cone, AND cherry pie, AND a hot dog (really it's sausage...but to Jack it's a hot dog), AND a lollipop. He pretends to eat them, too! And, he's very concerned when the caterpillar gets a "tummy ache", and his eyes get so wide as he sees the cocoon produce a butterfly. He loves turning the graduated pages, and is learning the days of the week! I can't put my finger on what specifically makes this book so wonderful; I suppose it's just that magical combination of words and illustrations that make great children's classics...well, classics.