''Kermit the Hermit'' is a children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

written and illustrated by

Bill Peet William Bartlett Peet (''né'' Peed; January 29, 1915 – May 11, 2002) was an American children's book illustrator and a story writer and animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Peet joined Disney in 1937 and worked first on ''Snow Wh ...

. It was first published in 1965. It tells the story of a greedy

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

who collects and hoards all sorts of unnecessary things. Peet said he got the idea for the book from sketching crabs stacked on ice in the sea food display of a supermarket. It has been printed in six editions and is still in print .

Plot summary

One day, when Kermit attempts to gain another unnecessary thing, he is almost buried by a dog, but is saved by a poor boy. Kermit is grateful and wants to thank the boy, but cannot think of a way to do so until he finds a chest of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. As he stores the gold pieces in his cave, he slowly gives up one thing at a time, until he has all the gold and no more possessions in his cave. With the help of the pelican, Kermit drops coins down the boy's chimney. The boy's family becomes rich and Kermit learns the value of sharing.

References

External links

* *
Houghton Mifflin profile of the book

1965 children's books American picture books Picture books by Bill Peet Houghton Mifflin books Children's books about animals {{child-picture-book-stub