Four weeks left to enter this year's Caterpillar Poetry Prize... Do you have a brilliant poem for children up your sleeve? There's up to €1,000 and a trip to The Moth Retreat up for grabs. We want to hear from YOU! Even if you're new to writing. 🐛 bit.ly/tcpp26

A throwback to British printmaker Alison Read's 'Fish Thief', which appeared in Issue 35 of The Caterpillar... 🐠

More upcoming opportunities for #kidlit writers! #50PreciousWords International Writing Contest hosted by @viviankirkfield.bsky.social. Open from March 2-3. @thecaterpillarmag.bsky.social Poetry Prize judged by @robertschechter.bsky.social closes March 31. (2/3)

We're delighted that this year's Caterpillar Poetry Prize will be judged by Robert Schechter – 'a dazzling tour de force,’ according former US Children's Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt. Got the perfect poem to impress him? 🫧 bit.ly/tcpp26

❛ You're the jelly on my toast, / you're the book I like the most. Here's something sweet to share if you need a last minute Valentine – a poem Sheila Kerwin from Issue 38! Tag the person who is the meatball on your spaghetti in the comments... 🍝

❛ My dog said, 'Take me for a walk / but only for a block or two.' / I said, 'Wow! You can talk! What would YOU do if you found out your pet could talk? Like in this great poem from Kristin Delaney... 🐕

Have you written a poem you think would appeal to children? Why not enter The Caterpillar Poetry Prize! 'The field is wide open! Sometimes someone starry wins, sometimes the prizes go to very new writers. It’s worth entering at any stage of a person’s writing life.' Kate Wakeling 🌟 bit.ly/tcpp25

Today's #ThrowbackTuesday comes courtesy of this year's Caterpillar Poetry Prize – news hot off the press! Words by Robert Schechter and art by Becca Fielding, both from the winter 2018 issue of The Caterpillar...

Open now! 🌟 The Caterpillar Poetry Prize is an annual prize for unpublished poems written by adults for children aged 7–11. We are delighted to have Robert Schechter as this year's judge. 1st prize: €1,000 + a week at The Moth Retreat Closes 31 March: bit ly/tcpp26

Get your entries in now! Winning poems are featured in the Irish Times online. Visit themothmagazine.com for more details. @thecaterpillarmag.bsky.social

Playtime doesn't have to be over just because Monday is almost here... From our archives, Russell Dorey's 'Indians. Playmobil II', which featured on the cover of Issue 20. #ArtistSpotlight

'From beautiful and thought-provoking to quirky and fun, something for everyone!' – Linda Middleton If your New Year's resolution is to spend less time on screens and more time with stories, come and check out our archives... 🫧 bit.ly/caterpillarbackissues

❛ I think the air’s just full of stories... full of music and it’s full of stories, and if you’re that kind of person, you tune in and pick one up. David Mckee, who was born #OTD in 1935.

A little reminder... 🐈‍⬛️ 'A Cat is NOT for Christmas' by Stewart Ennis, from Issue 23.

❛ There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you. Beatrix Potter, who died #OTD in 1943.

Time for tea... #ArtistSpotlight on painter Jay Schmetz – whose piece first appeared in Issue 22! 🫖

❛ In the village / full of sounds / winter makes / her snowy rounds. Midway through the month already! The perfect time for this poem from the archives by Charles Ghigna...

Whatever your festive holiday reading plans are, we bet they could be improved by a story like this one from Mark Stewart... Check out our backlist for lots of short stories and poems for small hands and bright minds. 🎁 bit.ly/caterpillar30

'The Caterpillar is such a unique and inspired magazine' – Coral Rumble 'Every child should own a Caterpillar' – Ian Whybrow 'The artwork is the most beautiful I have ever seen' – Rebecca Linam Try out a back issue from just €5... 🫧 bit.ly/caterpillarbackissues

❛ I always want the words to do what the pictures can’t do and the pictures to do what the words can’t do. So, if you get a duplication, I try to subtract what I don’t need because I believe less is more. Children's artist and author, Marc Brown, born #OTD in 1946.

A frosty fairytale painting from The Caterpillar Archives – by Cuban-American artist Enrique Martínez Celaya and originally from Issue 25! 🌨

❛ A childhood without books – that would be no childhood. That would be like being shut out from the enchanted place where you can go and find the rarest kind of joy. Pippi Longstocking author Astrid Lindgren, born #OTD in 1907.

❛ All my paintings are the outcome of quaint and beautiful things I have seen at tucking up time... It is then that I see deep into their little minds, and I am grateful for having the receptiveness of brain to retain the dainty secrets I have seen. Mabel Lucie Attwell, who died #OTD in 1964

Happy Halloween witches, warlocks and vampires! Here's some spookily good artwork by Janet Hill from Issue 34 of The Caterpillar. 🎃

We've got plenty of tricks and treats in our archives – like this spooky selection from Doug Cushman, from Issue 30. 👻 bit.ly/caterpillarbackissues

Quick! Before October is over for another year, we wondered if anyone has a favorite Autumn poem to celebrate the season? 🍂 Here's a classic from Robert Louis Stevenson, to kick things off...

As Halloween draws near, don't forget that sometimes monsters get lonely too. Just like in this poem by Myles McLeod, from Issue 23... 🐍💕 bit.ly/caterpillarbackissues

Swimming into the weekend – and all the adventures it will hold... 🐻‍❄ 'Dark Waters', from The Caterpillar Archives by Scottish artist Lucy Campbell #ArtistSpotlight

❛ Writing is to put love into the world. 'Harriet the Spy' author Louise Fitzhugh, born #OTD in 1928.

Hello October! Something brilliant and slightly spooky to welcome in the season, from Issue 17 of The Caterpillar – a fairytale collage by Kimberly Karr-Wlassak. 🌛 #ArtistSpotlight

'The Caterpillar is the sort of magazine I would have devoured as a young person’ – Liz Brownlee Hungry for funny poems, mind-blowing stories, and art that will make you want to pick up a pencil? Back issues from just €5, this way... 🐆 bit.ly/caterpillarbackissues

Long week? Us too. We think maybe we've all already Gone Bananas... Poem by Sophie Kirtley, originally from Issue 19. 🍌

❛A children's writer should, ideally, be a dedicated semi-lunatic, a kind of poet with a marvelous idea, who, preferably, when not committing the marvellous idea to paper, does something else of a quite different kind, so as to acquire new and rich experience. Joan Aiken, born #OTD in 1924.

A Sunday gift – beautiful art by the uber talented Hannah Lock. 'Gathering Flowers', from Issue 32. 💐 #ArtistSpotlight

In case you missed it – yesterday we announced Evie Wyld's winners of The Moth Short Story Prize 2025. Catch Clare Roche's first prize-winning story '(Un)Tethered' as part of The Irish Times' Summer Fiction series – in print and online: bit.ly/untetheredroche

❛ I thank you for / your point of view, / but I'll do me / and you do you. Some wise words to take us into the weekend - from our Spring 2021 issue. 🌈 bit.ly/caterpillarbackissues

Artist spotlight! We just LOVE this brilliantly gross piece by Freya Hartas, an illustrator based in the UK who specialises in #kidlit books. Originally from Issue 35...

❛ When people look at my work, they often say, “Your picture is so good. I can’t even draw a straight line.” I think everyone can learn to draw. The important thing is to keep trying, keep drawing. Illustrator Alice Provensen, born #OTD in 1918.

Ideal for young lovers of stories and art, and as aids for teachers to inspire, choc-a-bloc as they are with poetry, stories and stunning artwork... And now from just €20 for five issues, including postage! ✨️ bit.ly/caterpillarbackissues

❛ The sea's a salt blue dish. The sun's a golden peach. Here's some #MondayMotivation, even if you're very far from the sun and sand. Mary Green's gorgeous 'The Sea's a Salt Blue Dish', originally from Issue 21. Illustration by Fred Calleri.

❛It’s a mistake to think that a book for little children has to be like a glass of water so that every single element in it is accessible and clear and understood by a three-year-old. If they don’t understand something, they will ask. Goodbye to the great Allan Alhberg. #RIP

A summer poem for bright days and looooooong nights by Robert Louis Stevenson. What's your favourite summer poem to while away the sleepless hours? 🌇

We like to think we're the ideal holiday companion - perfect for small suitcases, glove compartments, and fold-down tray tables... Take us on your next adventure? 🌞 bit.ly/caterpillarbackissues

❛ A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy... Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people - people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book. Charlotte's Web author E. B. White, born #OTD in 1899.

This beautiful painting by Canadian artist Claudia Tremblay originally appeared back in Issue 14 – but we still love it just as much now! #ArtistSpotlight 🦋

Ah, the weekend - the perfect time for some self-reflection... 'an essay on bad habits' by James Butler (Issue 30, art by Rachael & Phillippa Corcutt)

Art by award-winning children's author and illustrator Wolf Erlbruch, born #OTD in 1948. 🎈

In case you missed it... 🌱 Yesterday we announced Kate Wakeling's 2025 winner of The Caterpillar Prize. If you haven't checked it out yet, here's another chance to read Laura Theis's winning poem 'I complain to my friend who has been turned into a tree'.

This is a milestone dream-come-true - my poem 'I Complain To My Friend Who Has Been Turned Into A Tree' has won the Caterpillar Poetry Prize! 🌳 @thecaterpillarmag.bsky.social Writing for children is such a joy and something I'd love to do for the rest of my life 🤞 www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...