Meta-What? The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burdach

Caterpillar #1: "Hey! What are you doing?"

Caterpillar #2: "We're going to metamorphosize... transform into butterflies."

Caterpillar #1: "Right. Right. I knew that. WAIT! Meta-WHAT!

You're telling me I can become a butterfly?"

Caterpillar #2 patiently points out that that's what caterpillars DO. They spin a chrysalis around their little many-legged bodies and metamorphose into six-legged, winged butterflies.

At first Caterpillar #1 can't get the hang of that spinning thing, but finally he manages to make himself a fairly decent chrysalis hanging side by side with his buddy. He's excited. Is he meta-whated yet? Caterpillar #2 patiently explains that it takes a couple of weeks and patience to change into a butterfly.

"TWO WEEKS??"

Can he go get a comic book to read? What if he needs a potty break? What if he gets hungry? He pulls out his phone.

"Hello? Two pizzas, please.

My address? A chrysalis.

Hello? Hellooo?"

Halfway though Day 1, Caterpillar #1 is going stir crazy.

There's nothing to do in there and he's getting claustrophobic! Surely he's done by now! KA-POW! He rips off his chrysalis, Superman-style.

WAIT! Where are my wings?

But Mother Nature takes her time, and Caterpillar #1 returns to his chrysalis and decides it's time for mind over matter. OMMMMM!

"Become One with the Chrysalis."

There's nothing for it but to go with the flow, in Ross Burdach's preternaturally funny The Very Impatient Caterpillar (Scholastic Press, 2019).  It's a picture book that has it all, a slice of primary-grade nature science, terrific comic art, and a bit of  a life lesson in patience. Burdach's quirky back-and-forth banter makes this one a dandy read-aloud in the best tradition of Darleen Cronin's classic Diary of a Worm and Tedd Arnold's Hi! Fly Guy,. Burdach's clever cartooning chops make this one a laugh-out-loud delight, one that will engage sophisticated story-time-savvy second and third graders, who will also find this one the bee's knees for reading solo.