Eric Carle

In celebration of the special anniversary edition of Eric Carle's legendary book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we've rounded up all things cute, fuzzy and well, caterpillar! Involve your lil ones in the process with Williams-Sonoma's caterpillar cakelet pan ($45), which provides the perfect opportunity to retell the story. See how many different food items your tots can recall from the tale.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a staple of every tot's library collection. First published in 1969, the children’s book was written and illustrated by beloved author Eric Carle and has since sold more than 29 million copies. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of this classic story, a brand new popup edition is about to be released. Carle's distinctive illustrations come to life in an even more spectacular way with this version than in his original innovative interactive book. Kids faces will light up discovering the caterpillar literally pop off the pages in three-dimensional form. Don't miss this text, which is available for preorder online or in bookstores March 10.

Are the fairy tales we grew up with (not to mention our parents and grandparents) too scary and politically incorrect for our children? According to a nationwide survey in Great Britain, The Baby Website found that one in four moms forgo classics such as Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood over The Very Hungry Caterpillar or The Gruffalo.

Traditional fairy tales were first popularized in the early 1800s with the publishing of The Brothers Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812 and Hans Christian Andersen's Complete Fairy Tales and Stories in 1835. The stories have been told to generations of children through various waves of social reforms, but today's parents deem the classics to be too scary (Hansel and Gretel are abandoned in a forest) or not PC (the dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). The survey revealed that parents feared that this text would give their tots nightmares, with 65 percent saying they purposely choose happy stories for bedtime reading.

Tell us, have you abandoned traditional fairy tales for more modern storytelling? To see the survey's top 10 bedtime storybooks, as well as the classics we are neglecting, read more

If you're in need of a break, but your kid is running around — I've got a game for you. I play it with my babe when I am wiped out. It keeps her interested and both of us interacting. To see my trick, read more

Already a fan of Eric Carle's beautiful and creative illustrations in children's books such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Hungry Caterpillar, I'm excited to see his art now appearing on alphabet flash cards ($15).

Each card has a letter of the alphabet on a colorful backdrop on one side and a splendidly illustrated animal to represent the letter on the other. And, the flash cards are made out of a heavy card stock, which makes for good tossing around the room without too much damage. Your lil Einstein will have the whole alphabet memorized in no time thanks to these beauties.