THE WOOLLY BEAR CATERPILLAR

by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Yuval Zommer, is published in hardback by Macmillan Children’s Books, priced £12.99

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Julia Donaldson is loved for The Gruffalo, and here she has joined forces with illustrator Yuval Zommer (of the Big Book Of... series) to create a spin on the Ugly Duckling tale.

The woolly bear caterpillar is brown, hairy and perfectly content eating dandelion leaves, until a gardener pulls up all the weeds and she has to look for more.

She meets a trio of gorgeously colourful caterpillars, and they all expect her to become a dowdy moth – but they are in for a surprise when her cocoon hatches.

Gentle lessons in habitat destruction, self-acceptance and snobbery linger under the beautiful, fairy-like illustrations that will enchant three to five year olds.

It even comes with a mini non-fiction book full of facts about caterpillars and moths in the real world, to encourage further learning.