I always was amused by the public school poster of "You Are What You Eat". Two kids covered in food, one is "bad" and one is "good". This reminded me of the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" artist, Eric Carle.

While the message of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is about growing into the people that we dream of being, Carle wanted to deliver another message. He spoke about his experience with the book in a 2015 interview with The Paris Review.

“My publisher [World Publishing Company] and I fought bitterly over the stomachache scene in The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” he revealed.

“The caterpillar, you’ll recall, feasts on cake, ice cream, salami, pie, cheese, sausage, and so on,” he continued. “After this banquet I intended for him to proceed immediately to his metamorphosis, but my publisher insisted that he suffer an episode of nausea first — that some punishment follow his supposed overeating.”

“This disgusted me,” he said honestly. “It ran entirely contrary to the message of the book.”

Eric Carle didn’t believe in childhood obesity

Carle explained that the publishers were likely concerned about encouraging gluttony, but he didn’t believe that children should be concerned about such things.

“The caterpillar is, after all, very hungry, as sometimes we all are,” Carle said. “He has recognized an immense appetite within him and has indulged it, and the experience transforms him, betters him. Including the punitive stomachache ruined the effect. It compromised the book.”

“I don’t recognize childhood obesity,” he stated plainly. “No one should. I see children doing what they like, which is eating, and doing it without the shame or remorse later drilled into them by Judeo-Christian ethics.”