By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 1:40 AM on 6th February 2012 He’s been munching through fruit, cake and sausages for more than 40 years…but children still haven’t lost their appetite for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric Carle’s 1969 tale about a caterpillar that becomes a butterfly is the most read children’s book in Britain, a study revealed yesterday. Researchers estimate it is read an average of nine times a year by the nation’s 5.5million primary school children. Nation's favourite: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first released in 1969, is still British primary school children's most popular book, with nine reads each year
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Cinderella, Postman Pat, Fireman Sam and Spot the Dog also make top ten
The second most popular book is the @placeholder fairytale, read around 8.7 times a year, according to the poll of 2,000 parents.