Houdini the Amazing Caterpillar by Janet PedersenThis story is about a caterpillar who lives in a classroom. He is basically a class pet that the students are going to observe because they are learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. He is named Houdini because he does "vanishing acts" often. He can make leaves "disappear" in an instant, he can "grow" right before your eyes, and other neat things a catepillar does. There is a point in the story where another class pet shows up, a spider, and Houdini feels like no one notices him as much. So he decides to perform the best act of his life...turning into a butterfly. I liked the different perspectives the author takes in the story. I enjoyed seeing life from a caterpillar's perspective and the students' perspective. To the students, Houdini was just a caterpillar that they enjoyed studying for class. But it was fun to see how a caterpillar interpreted life from where he lived. I also liked how the caterpillar's life cylce paralelled his desire to be noticed by the class. First he starts out as an egg and then develops into the larva/caterpillar stage, and when he thinks people are getting bored with him, he develops into the pupa/chrysalis stage. Then for his big "amazing show," he turns into this beautiful butterfly! I noticed that the text is written differently when it's from Houdini's perspective than when it's from the viewpoint of the class. I don't think there's anything incredibly indepth from that distinction, just an observation that can help the reader distinguish who's talking. The illustrations were also beautiful! This would fit well with a science unit on life cycles. It even has an author's note for the different stages of a caterpillar and describes them in detail.
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