Happy Birthday Catterpillar!

Al Roth posts on the 40th birthday of the "The Very Hungry Catterpillar". This book, about a caterpilliar who eats his way through the book leaving a trail of holes behind, was a favourite in our house.

Market for childrens' books ... Bestsellers in any category are what make publishing profitable. But childrens' books must be very special, because a bestseller can have high sales for a long time, as new generations of the target audience are born. I've always thought that this must be especially true for those books made of thick cardboard, suitable for chewing on as well as reading, since each new reader needs a new copy (chewing cuts down on the used book/hand me down market). But I hadn't guessed just how big the revenue stream is. .... 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar,' ..... has sold 29 million copies and has licensing deals, Newsweek reports, of $50 million annually......