The Very Hungry Caterpillar is UK's favourite and most widely read children’s book

• Cinderella, Postman Pat, Fireman Sam and Spot the Dog also make top ten

By Daily Mail Reporter -  6th February 2012

He’s been munching through fruit, cake and sausages for more than 40 years…but children still haven’t lost their appetite for The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Eric Carle’s 1969 tale about a caterpillar that becomes a butterfly is the most read children’s book in Britain, a study revealed yesterday.
Researchers estimate it is read an average of nine times a year by the nation’s 5.5million primary school children.

Nation's favourite: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first released in 1969, is still British primary school children's most popular book, with nine reads each year

The second most popular book is the Cinderella fairytale, read around 8.7 times a year, according to the poll of 2,000 parents.
The report, commissioned by the Early Learning Centre, also found parents actively encourage their children to read books they enjoyed as youngsters, prompting the comeback of a string of classics.

Popular: Books about Postman Pat, and his trusty cat Jess, came in at fifth in the poll with 7.49 reads each year

Yesterday Nicki Tracey, Head of Brand Communications for the Early Learning Centre said: 'A huge amount of parents are familiar with the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and it’s a book that has obviously been passed down through the generations.
'It’s great to see so many books on this list that parents have obviously enjoyed themselves as children and as a result encouraged their own children to read and love as well.
'It’s especially good to see that so many parents and children enjoy reading these stories that they re-read the same books over and over.
'Reading boosts children’s development, teaches them new words and helps them discover and learn about the world.'

The third most read books were Roger Hargreaves’ Mr Men series followed by the Peppa Pig books based on the Channel 5 TV show and John Cunliffe’s Postman Pat adventures.
Parents and children read about Postman Pat’s adventures an average of 7.5 times a year while The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson’s animated modern fantasy about a fictitious monster who lurks in the woods, is likely to be read at least seven times a year.

THE MOST READ CHILDREN’S BOOKS

(The figures are based number of times each book is read a year per household)
1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle 8.85
2. Cinderella - Various 8.71
3. Mr Men - Roger Hargreaves 8.41
4. Peppa Pig - Various 7.72
5. Postman Pat - John Cunliffe 7.49
6. The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson 7.48
7. Fireman Sam - Various 7.43
8. Spot the Dog - Eric Hill 7.39
9. Biff, Chip and Kipper - Roderick and Cynthia Rider Hunt 7.31
10. Horrid Henry - Francesca Simon 7.25

Roald Dahl’s 1964 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dr Seuss’s 1957 book The Cat in the Hat and the 1980s Spot the Dog series also made the top 20.
The study also found most parents said their children picked up a book and either read to themselves or got their parents to read it every day.
And ninety per cent claim their children read or were read to at least three times a week.
Parents also agreed that sons and daughters had very different tastes when it came to their reading habits but both preferred adventure stories.
One in five parents admitted to bribing their children to read by offering them pocket money.
Technology has also had an impact on how children read with more than a quarter of parents saying their child had read a story on an e-reader.
The poll also found 12 per cent of parents said their offspring liked reading books based on films or TV shows.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2097015/How-The-Very-Hungry-Caterpillar-favourite-widely-read-children-s-book.html#ixzz1lcdlFf8r