Fifty years of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

This month marked the fiftieth anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s publication.

Since coming out on June 3, 1969, according to NPR, the book has sold nearly 50 million copies — with one sale every thirty seconds — and has been translated into over sixty languages.

Author Eric Carle is still alive, though the eighty-nine-year-old's health prevented him from speaking with NPR to commemorate the book anniversary.

You can learn about Carle’s challenging childhood and early professional career — he didn’t begin writing children’s books until age forty — in NPR’s article about him, however.

And you can also watch Carle speak about his iconic book in a YouTube video from his publisher.