CHILDREN’S BOOK REVIEW: Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin and James Dean

Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin and James Dean
Illustrated by James Dean
40 Pages
Children’s Stories
Harper Collins Children’s Books
Age range: 3+

I had not heard of Pete the Cat before, but my husband has fond memories of him from his childhood and suggested we buy a couple of the stories for our son for Christmas. The books have really fun and colourful and are definitely written with a sense of humour. Pete is the most laid-back, chilled cat you could ever meet. In fact, when I read the books I often wonder if Pete might have had something added to his brownies 😉 .

Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons is about Pete’s, well, groovy buttons. Pete loves the buttons on his shirt, so much so that he even has a groovy song for them. But then do you know what happens? One pops off – But did Pete cry?

“Did Pete cry? Goodness, no! He kept on singing his song”

The story has plenty of repetition, but this is part of what makes it so charming. We made up a little tune for Pete’s song ourselves, but there is actually a link to a free download of a song on the Pete the Cat website. My son can be heard singing the song well after the story had ended.

It’s also a great way to teach mental arithmetic, as Pete looses a button, we do the maths to work out how many buttons left.

It also teaches children that when bad things happen, they are often not quite as bad as you think in a funny and light-hearted way.

Verdict:

Pete the Cat is chilled and happy book, it’s funny and has great illustrations to go with it. It is most definitely one on the favourites list.

Rating: 4/5

Buy the book on Amazon.