With stomping brown bears, dancing dolphins, and one very humorous caterpillar, Jonathan Rockefeller's adaption of Eric Carle's timeless stories was a pleasure to watch.
Entering a packed-out auditorium at Bristol Old Vic with two children - one dangerously close to nap time -I feared the afternoon trip could end in disaster.
But as soon as the first of the 75 puppets came strolling across the stage, my restless son was fixated on nothing but the animals.
The magic of Eric Carle's books lies in his love of the natural world, and this same passion was recreated on stage with the imaginative and entertaining movement of the puppets.
Eric was also an impressive artist, using vibrant colours to bring his characters to life. And again the designers managed to capture meticulously the detail from his books with their huge puppets which danced, jumped, flew and crawled across the stage.
Using subtle music and minimal lines, the puppeteers gently took the audience through four of Eric's popular books, finishing with his most-loved classic the Very Hungry Catepillar.
Highlights from the hour-long production included fireworks (pretend) exploding into the crowd during the The Very Lonely Firefly.
Nearly every child in the room was in fits of laughter when the caterpillar busts its head through all of his lavish meals throughout his week of feasting.
And there was a universal gasp of amazement when a beautiful huge butterfly flapped out of the cocoon as the finale.
Featuring lots of dancing puppets and Eric's moving diction, the show was a pleasure to sit back and marvel at while the kids sat in unrivalled amazement.
The show will be at the Old Vic until February 21.
