The Very Hungry Caterpillar - The Untold Story

For Ben:

Cyril was a caterpillar. Cyril had no friends. You may have heard of him.

This brave caterpillar, previously unable to discuss his difficult experiences has finally decided to come clean about his recent weight-loss in allowing Becky Boo's Book Club to publish this EXCLUSIVE heart-warming story.

Previously Cyril had a court super-injunction in force which was broken by Eric Carle who took liberties with Cyril's trust and published a tell-all book about his weight problem.

Originally called "Lepidopteral Obesity - A Caterpillar's Struggle" this book was later renamed to the much more catchy "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and published in at least 40 languages, much to Cyril's distress.

A victim of constant bullying from other caterpillars in his neighbourhood, Cyril took to eating for comfort and, after a particularly voracious week, found himself the subject of nosy parker Eric Carle's attentions. Eric had never seen a caterpillar behave in such a way and said that he was using Cyril, without permission, as a "nature study".

According to Cyril "Carle didn't help me to address my weight gain, nor did he help me to understand the psychological reasons behind it. In fact, he encouraged me to eat more and more until I could no longer identify with my own species".

Cyril - 2004

Cyril had a hard start in life, he was born with very unusual features and only six tiny legs. His entire back was covered in prickles, he had very large ears - akin to those of a rabbit, and suffered greatly from cataracts in his overlarge eyes. Looking back, Cyril believes that all of these factors contributed to his low self esteem and, eventually, his appetite.

So what's new? Well! Becky Boo's Book Club can exclusively report that Cyril has undergone a startling transformation following ground-breaking treatment from the Harley Street Clinic for Caterpillars. 

The treatment:

6 weeks of nibbling tiny holes in leaves as his only food intake

15 days in a silken sleeping bag

The addition of wings

A radical sex change

Yes, it may seem mad but Cyril, now known as Cecile, maintains that this treatment has had a lasting effect on his health and happiness. 

Cyril explains - "By only allowing yourself to nibble a tiny hole in each leaf, you are fooling your body into thinking that it is eating more whilst it is actually breaking down the poly-saturates stored in your blood stream. The next stage is to, effectively, hibernate. This is because, after 6 weeks of starvation, you will not be able to stand, six legs or no! The next stage is to grow, or otherwise obtain, a pair of wings. Because they're pretty. Also, you will find that you will suddenly pay much more attention to your weight once you have wings. Lastly, the sex change. This is necessary because it has long been proven that women do not "get fat" they simply become "curvier" - which is not quite the same."

Cecile (nee "Cyril") - NOW

Cecile's happiness just goes to show what a few simple lifestyle changes can do. Beat obesity - with leaves, hibernation, wings and femininity!

If you are a caterpillar and have been affected by Cecile's story - please write in with an appropriate picture of you looking fat and ugly so that we can exploit you too!

© Becky Boo's Book Club 2012