NMLP P-036658 · True-first precedence · minted 2026-07-19

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Eric Carle · World Publishing (US) / Hamish Hamilton (UK) · 1969

The US World Publishing edition (1969) is the true first and precedes the UK by a full year: the UK Hamish Hamilton edition did not appear until 1970 (an oblong format with white glazed pictorial boards). Precedence is therefore NOT 'close' — World Publishing 1969, with the complete number line and 'Printed in Japan,' is the collected first. US rights later moved to Philomel/Putnam, and even early Philomel copies are reprints, not firsts.

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New Mexico Literacy Project — True-first precedence NMLP P-036658 for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-036658, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).