SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Pete the Kitty and the Three Bears
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.petethecat.com/
CITY: Conyers
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 369
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1957, in Fort Payne, AL; married Kimberly Dean (a writer), 2004.
EDUCATION:Auburn University, degree (electrical engineering).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Artist and author/illustrator. Georgia Power, electrical engineer for twenty years. Exhibitions: Work represented in numerous galleries throughout the United States.
AVOCATIONS:Working on cars.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
When Alabama-born artist James Dean first sketched the shocking-blue feline character he named Pete the Cat in 1999, he had no clue that he had created a future star in the universe of children’s picture books. Pete’s fame grew a few years later, when Dean cast him in the children’s book The Misadventure of Pete the Cat, and again when he appeared in several stories authored by singer/songwriter Eric Litwin. “I didn’t want to make a too-sweet cat or cutesy kittens for children,” Dean later told Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Helena Oliviero about his creation. “I didn’t think that would be satisfying. Pete is a little bit edgy. He’s lovable and he’s got that ‘look in his eye.’”
Dean’s career as an artist and children’s book illustrator came after a twenty-year stint as an electrical engineer for a Georgia utility company. At age forty he quit his job to focus on his art and exhibited his work in several local galleries. After the vivid blue cat named Pete appeared, he made cameo appearances in several paintings by Dean, and these popular “Pete” paintings soon became Dean’s specialty. The feline, with his coolly arch expression, was inspired by Dean’s pet cat Pete, a stray he had adopted.
One day a fan stopped Dean on the street and said he had written a story and a song about Pete. Dean invited the man—who turned out to be Litwin—to send it to him via e-mail. Merging Litwin’s ideas with his own story about a little girl, titled “I Love My White Shoes,” they produced Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes . In the story Pete receives a new pair of bright white sneakers and takes them out for a stroll. He inadvertently strides into a vat of strawberries, turning them red, but Pete changes his tune to “I love my red shoes.” He makes other missteps and marvels at the ever-changing colors.
With a text by Litwin, the self-published Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes and Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons pair Dean’s engaging cat character with sing-along tunes and their success attracted a major publisher. In Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons the blue cat sports some new duds and is unconcerned when the elaborate buttons on his new shirt pop off one by one. “Pete the Cat follows the pattern of his previous appearances,” noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor, and “despite repeated wardrobe malfunctions, he maintains his upbeat attitude and bouncy charm.” Reviewing another Litwin-Dean collaboration, Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes, Grace Oliff noted in School Library Journal that its “cartoon illustrations are bright and cheerful.”
While Pete the cat resides in Florida, he takes a winter vacation in Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, the final collaboration between Litwin and Dean. Here the laid-back cat pinch hits for an under-the-weather Santa Claus in a story augmented by Litwin’s musical accompaniment. This mix of “vibrant illustrations and the simple story create a satisfying whole,” noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor in praise of this holiday-themed tale.
Together with his wife, Kim, Dean has created many easy-reading stories starring the laid-back, music-loving blue feline, among them Pete at the Beach, Pete’s Big Lunch, Pete the Cat and the Bedtime Blues, Pete the Cat Five-Minute Bedtime Stories, and Pete the Cat’s Twelve Groovy Days of Christmas. Although an overnight with best friends Toad, Alligator, and Gus seems like fun in Pete the Cat and the Bedtime Blues, problems arise when Pete’s guests decide to forego the “sleep” in sleep-over. Another group gathering goes off the rails in Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party, which a Children’s Bookwatch contributor described as “full of fun alliterations and tasty food.” Another “Pete” story, Crayons Rock!, finds the feline artist attempting colorful portraits of his friends. Dean’s “dynamic illustrations” here help make Crayons Rock! a good choice for “Pete fans,” predicted Amanda Foulk in School Library Journal.
(open new)In Pete the Cat’s Not So Groovy Day, the titular cat experiences a series of mishaps and wonders how to stop his day from getting even worse. With a pep talk from Callie, Pete finds self-confidence and ease. Heather Maneiro, writer in School Library Journal, commented: “The Deans’s latest book for early readers includes illustrations rich with contextual clues.” Pete has a holiday-themed adventure in Pete the Cat and the Easter Basket Bandit. In this volume, he discovers that his treat-filled Easter basket is nowhere to be found. He follows a trail of jelly beans, picking up his friend Callie along the way. Ultimately, they find the basket and learn a lesson on sharing with others. Laura Ellis, contributor to School Library Journal, noted that the structure of the book “helps young emerging readers acquire reading and language skills.” Pete learns life skills in Pete the Cat Saves Up. He has been wanting to buy a Sharkbot toy but does not have enough money, so he earns more by doing chores and even starting a lemonade stand. “Both longtime and new fans of Pete the Cat will appreciate the message,” predicted Kristy Pasquariello in School Library Journal. (close new—more below)
In addition to their easy-reading stories featuring Pete the Cat, the Deans have created the “Pete the Kitty” series of beginning readers. In Pete the Kitty and the Unicorn’s Missing Colors, the dark blue kitten joins friend Stevie to help a magical unicorn restore the rainbow of colors that once appeared in her tail. Young listeners are also inspired with bravery by shadowing the frisky blue kitten in Pete the Kitty’s First Day of Preschool. Riding the school bus, meeting a new teacher, and making new friends are the authors’ focus here, and a Kirkus Reviews critic noted that the “highly positive” story in Pete the Kitty’s First Day of Preschool serves as a “gentle introduction” to a new experience. (open new)In Pete the Kitty’s Outdoor Art Project, Pete overcomes anxiety about a new situation at school and comes to embrace a new way to create art. Jennifer Noonan, reviewer in School Library Journal, described the book as “a simple yet cohesive story with … vibrant and appealing illustrations.”(close new)
After inspiring Dean’s picture-book success all those years ago, the real-life Pete the Cat behaved true to form for a cat: he wandered away from home one day and never returned. “He came and he did what he was supposed to do, and he helped me,” the artist recalled to Tacoma Perry in an interview in MyFoxAtlanta.com, “and then he went somewhere else.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Children’s Bookwatch, November, 2019, review of Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party.
Horn Book, November-December, 2012, Lolly Robinson, review of Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, p. 59.
Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2011, review of Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes; April 1, 2012, review of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons; September 1, 2012, review of Pete the Cat Saves Christmas; March 1, 2013, review of Play Ball!; January 1, 2014, review of Old MacDonald Had a Farm; May 1, 2014, review of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; August 15, 2015, review of Pete the Cat and the Bedtime Blues; January 1, 2018, review of I Love Pete the Kitty; September 1, 2018, review of Pete the Cat’s Twelve Groovy Days of Christmas; August 15, 2019, review of Pete the Kitty’s First Day of Preschool.
Publishers Weekly, May 28, 2012, review of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, p. 96; September 3, 2012, Diane Roback, “Feline Phenom”, p. 11; September 10, 2012, review of Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, p. 55.
School Library Journal, July, 2010, Maryann H. Owen, review of Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, p. 64; August, 2011, Grace Oliff, review of Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes, p. 79; July, 2012, Mary Hazelton, review of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, p. 59; October, 2020, Amanda Foulk, review of Pete the Cat: Crayons Rock!, p. 64; December, 2022, Laura Ellis, review of Pete the Cat and the Easter Basket Bandit, p. 70; June, 2022, Heather Maneiro, review of Pete the Cat’s Not So Groovy Day, p. 66; March, 2023, Jennifer Noonan, review of Pete the Kitty’s Outdoor Art Project, p. 79; April, 2023, Kristy Pasquariello, review of Pete the Cat Saves Up, p. 123; December, 2023, Ellen Williams, review of Pete the Kitty and the Three Bears, p. 82.
ONLINE
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.accessatlanta.com/ (April 19, 2010), Helena Oliviero, “Atlanta’s ‘Pete the Cat’ Makes Literary, Artistic Strides.”
Discovering Bulloch website, https://www.discoveringbulloch.com/ (March 27, 2019), Angyle Morrison, author interview.
Get Georgia Reading website, https://getgeorgiareading.org/ (July 27, 2015), “Meet James and Kimberly Dean—and Pete, Their Groovy Cat.”
James Dean website, http://www.petethecat.com (March 5, 2021).
MyFoxAtlanta.com, http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/ (November 16, 2012), Tacoma Perry, author interview.
Now Habersham, https://nowhabersham.com/ (May 7, 2023), Jerry Neace, author interview.
Pete the Cat website, https://www.petethecatbooks.com/ (July 3, 2024), author profile.
James
James Dean is the original creator and illustrator of Pete the Cat. He is a self-taught artist originally from Fort Payne, Alabama. His passion for drawing became apparent at a young age, and as a child, you could find James drawing his favorite characters like Snoopy and Yogi Bear.
James earned his degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and went on to work for Georgia Power for a number of years. Eventually, he was called to pursue his art full- time and began selling his work at art festivals around the Southeast. It was during this time that he began creating paintings and drawing of his cat, Pete.The little blue cat showed up as a character in James’s artwork around 1999 and has been a permanent fixture ever since.
James Dean’s art has been sold in more than ninety galleries and shops across the United States. He has devoted his paintings to Pete the Cat for fifteen years and turned his natural love for cats into his life’s work. James published his first book, The Misadventures of Pete the Cat, a history of his artwork, in 2006, and he illustrated his first self-published children’s book, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, in 2008. There are now almost 100 published Pete the Cat titles with more coming out all the time. James is humbled every day by the success that this groovy blue cat has brought him. He says positively affecting children’s lives is his number one priority, and he is grateful to have such an amazing audience to work for.
Bestselling author celebrates young writers
By Jerry Neace -May 7, 2023| Updated: May 07, 2023
James Dean with some of his original paintings of Pete the Cat. Dean shares his life story to inspire young people to follow their dreams. (Jerry Neace/Now Habersham)
If it can happen to me, it can happen to you.
That’s the message author and illustrator James Dean said he hoped to leave with the young writers he came to celebrate recently in Mt. Airy.
ADVERTISING
The original creator of the bestselling children’s book series “Pete the Cat” was the featured guest speaker at this year’s Young Georgia Authors award ceremony. The event at Habersham Central High School’s auditorium recognized 13 elementary and secondary school students who won this year’s systemwide writing competition. Three of them went on to win regional competitions, giving Habersham more regional winners this year than any other school system in Northeast Georgia.
Around 200 students, educators, and family members attended the Yough Georgia Authors award ceremony at Habersham Central High School on April 21, 2023. (Jerry Neace/Now Habersham)
“For Habersham County to have three winners at the region (RESA) level is a testimony to the quality instruction that is occurring in our classrooms,” said Habersham County School Superintendent Matthew Cooper.
Over 200 students, educators, and family members attended the April 21 ceremony. During the event, Dean shared how he went from being an electrical engineer to a New York Times bestselling author.
MORE Young authors honored in Habersham
Pete the Cat comes to life
Before gaining fame with Pete the Cat, Dean spent 20 years working for Georgia Power. An artist at heart, he drew landscapes around his home in Athens and sold them at galleries and festivals. In time, Dean gained the confidence to quit his engineering job to become a full-time artist.
Author/illustrator James Dean holds up his father’s artwork while speaking with students about art and following their dreams. (photo courtesy Susan Davis)
Dean’s cat, Pete, liked to sit in his lap as he drew. One day, a gallery manager encouraged him to paint Pete. At first, Dean said he balked at the idea but eventually gave in.
The little blue cat showed up as a character in James’s artwork around 1999. He began drawing Pete cartoon style with more of a human persona. He moved to Atlanta and made a living selling Pete the Cat paintings at festivals and galleries throughout the Southeast.
People who bought his paintings told him he needed to write children’s books. Several submitted story ideas to Dean, but it wasn’t until one day while driving his 1965 Chevy Impala through downtown Atlanta that it all came together, he told the audience.
While stopped at a traffic light, a gentleman he didn’t know spoke to him and said, “I just recorded a song for you.” That song was “I love my white shoes.”
‘Most important thing I do’
In 2008, Dean and author Eric Litwin self-published the first title in the series called Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. Within ten months, it was picked up by HarperCollins Publishers.
Dean signs a book for Baldwin Elementary School 5th grader Hudson Garrett as Chastity Chastain, Baldwin’s Academic Coach, looks on. (Jerry Neace/Now Habersham)
There are now almost 100 published Pete the Cat titles in the series, with more coming out all the time, according to HarperCollins.
Dean has found success by following his dream and wants young people to know that. At April’s ceremony, he said speaking with students is “the most important thing I do.”
“I wished I had more time to do it. I want to say to them, ‘Look what happened to me; this could happen to you. You have to try things.'”
Pete the Cat creator now calls the Boro home
W SAM_2136.jpg
James Dean, a new resident in Statesboro, takes a moment to discuss his children’s books featuring Pete the Cat. Dean is well-known in literary and art circles all over the country. He sat down recently during a visit to Roosevelt’s Character Development Center to talk about the books and his art.
ANGYE MORRISON
Published: Mar 27, 2019, 9:38 AM
Pete the Cat is one laid back, groovy kind of guy.
Then again, so is his creator, James Dean
A new resident of Statesboro, Dean created the Pete the Cat children’s book series, which now boasts more than 60 titles. But Dean didn’t start out to be a children’s author or even an artist. He says his creative story begins with his father, Curtis.
“My father, I felt like, was a man who could really do anything. Whatever he wanted to do, it just seemed he could do it,” he said.
When Dean was in the first grade, his father was working on electrical drawings for rockets, as the country prepared for the first landing on the moon. The family was living in Huntsville, Alabama at the time. Dean says that for whatever reason, his dad decided he could draw, even though he had never done so before.
Curtis did a charcoal drawing of John F. Kennedy after his assassination, which he sent to the White House. The family received a letter from Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and the drawing is in the Kennedy Library, so Dean has been told.
“Someday I’d like to find out,” he said, smiling.
Curtis never sold any art, so Dean says he grew up thinking of artists like most people do, using the term, “starving artist.”’
“That’s what we think of artists,” he said.
Dean developed an interest in art, and picked it up fairly easily, and was largely self-taught. He says he paid attention to art because of his dad. Dean liked to draw cartoons, and his favorite one to draw was Snoopy.
After his father left, his mother moved the family to Fort Payne, Alabama from their previous home in Huntsville. Dean went to high school there and later attended Auburn University, where he studied electrical engineering. He says he hated engineering school, and that it was very difficult for him.
“That’s probably because that wasn’t truly where my heart was. That probably made it even harder for me. I didn’t feel like I fit in,” he said.
But he pushed on and graduated, and worked in electrical engineering for 20 years. He moved to Athens, Georgia, where he worked for Georgia Power. He says he ended up falling in love with the city. Dean says Statesboro reminds him of Athens in the early 1980s, when he lived there.
It was during that time that he began to think about doing something else.
“When I hit my mid-30s, I started thinking about what else I wanted to do, because I always wanted to have another business,” he said.
Dean began to draw pictures of landmarks and landscapes around the Athens area, including places where students hung out. In just three short years, people were buzzing about his artwork, and this gave him the confidence to quit his job and pursue art full-time.
He began attending art festivals, selling his art and networking with other artists and the arts communities they called home. He began showing his art in galleries, and it was at one of them that he met a woman who asked him to paint a cat, which he didn’t want to do.
“I said, ‘I don’t want to be a cat artist.’ That’s a little ironic now,” he said, laughing.
The painting she requested was to benefit her local animal shelter, and it sold for $300. This surprised Dean.
“But I said if I can paint my cat, and do it the way I want to do it and people like it, then that might be OK,” he said.
The cat that inspired him was a skinny black kitten he named Pete. Dean wasn’t looking for a cat — he’d had one for more than 13 years named Slim, and after that cat died, he didn’t think he’d ever want another one. But Pete was different.
Pete often sat in Dean’s lap while he painted. One day, he said, the kitten stopped running around and sat still, looking thoughtful, so Dean painted a quick portrait, which only took about 5 minutes. The original painting was intended for adults.
He kept doing the paintings, and eventually he became known for it, and he said he had to decide if he was just going to continue in that vein.
“So that’s what I decided to do,” he said. He recreated it 16 times for sale, and each one was signed and numbered.
Pete would often stick his nose in Dean’s coffee cup, and he said one day he began to imagine what Pete would be like if he drank coffee. He drew him sitting on a chair, holding a coffee cup, and that was the first time he’d drawn Pete in a cartoon style.
Dean was often approached with ideas for children’s books centered around Pete, but he never heard an idea that he liked. That was the case until he met Eric Litwin.
Litwin had originally met Dean during a festival, during which he purchased a T-shirt from Dean, but had lost his nerve when it came to striking up a conversation. He later approached him in Atlanta and told Dean he’d written a song for him, called “I Love My White Shoes.” The two paired up on the first Pete the Cat book, bearing that title, which they self-published.
Dean was later approached by a woman who owned a bookstore and he gave her a copy of the book, which she handed over to a publishing rep from New York. That publisher didn’t like the story as it was, but another one, Harper Collins, did and they published the book verbatim.
When asked how he comes up with the stories for Pete’s adventures, Dean says it’s not easy. He’s written some books with Litwin, and some with his wife Kim, but the bulk of them he wrote himself. Dean says that when he and Kim work together, they often disagree on what to write and how, but they have developed their own system for making it work.
One of his favorite books he and Kim have written is “Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes.”
“That’s one of the best ones because when you read it to children they get really engaged and they like counting the cupcakes,” he said. “About halfway through it, I reached the point where I didn’t ever want to work with Kim again. But in the end, we created one of our best books. So I always keep that in my head. But it’s been that way on every one of them.”
Giving up control to an editor and art director has been tough for Dean, who says he’d much rather just be at his easel painting whatever he wants. But over the years, he’s gotten better about it.
“I try not to get too attached to my ideas,” he said. “I’m doing a lot better about it.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Pete the Cat books, and Dean says he’s been constantly working since the beginning. But he doesn’t mind.
“It’s my joy,” he said.
He’s working on coming up with ideas for the next book, but says nothing is set in stone yet. He also says he’s not planning on creating another character.
“I just decided I need to do this. It’s huge. I don’t need to try to write more books just to prove something to myself. I feel like, since Pete the Cat was created for adults, and what I love to do is make paintings of Pete, that I’ll get to do that the rest of my life,” he said. “Maybe God will give me some other crazy idea, I don’t know.”
Whatever happened to the original Pete? Dean says the cat loved going outside, and he just disappeared one day, and was never seen again.
“I don’t know what happened to him,” he said. “It’s kind of sad.”
But the skinny stray’s legacy lives on in a cool cat that has made millions of children laugh and experience the joy of reading. There are even cartoons that have great music and good messages for kids.
Pete the Cat books are available at book retailers nationwide, and the series cartoons are available for viewing on Amazon Prime.
QUOTED: "helps young emerging readers acquire reading and language skills."
DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Cat and the Easter Basket Bandit. illus. by James Dean. 24p. HarperFestival. Feb. 2023. pap. $6.99. ISBN 9780062868374.
K-Gr 2--An interactive picture book for young readers that starts with a mystery. Pete is concerned that his Easter basket, which should be full of treats, is missing. He searches everywhere for it but cannot find it. He then notices a colorful jellybean trail that leads him to his friend Callie's house. She has her basket but has not seen his. They see another trail of candy and decide to follow it. The trail leads them to another friend. Pete's missing Easter basket turns into a mystery that he and his friends work together to solve, but what they discover isn't what they expected. Pete finds his basket, but he and his friends also learn how important it is to give and share with others. Along with teaching a lesson, the authors use a repetitive literary pattern, a strategy that helps young emerging readers acquire reading and language skills. The book comes with eight cards, a fold-out poster, and stickers. VERDICT Due to the extra materials, this is perhaps more for personal than public or school library ownership. A satisfying addition to a child's or children's library.--Laura Ellis
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Ellis, Laura. "DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Cat and the Easter Basket Bandit." School Library Journal, vol. 68, no. 12, Dec. 2022, p. 70. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729547979/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ab720ff6. Accessed 12 Apr. 2024.
DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Kitty and the Three Bears. illus. by James Dean. 32p. (My First I Can Read). HarperCollins. Feb. 2024. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780063096080; pap. $5.99. ISBN 9780063096073.
K-Gr 2--Once upon a time, a cool kitty" wandered through the woods and into the home of three bears, where he found pizza that was just the right temperature and a guitar that was just the right size for his little paws. Pete the Kitty embodies the character of Goldilocks in this fairy-tale twist, and a growling baby bear soon finds friendship with the unlikely visitor. The new friends rock out until the end of the story. This tale from the Dean team feels familiar, as it contains illustrations and colors similar to other "Pete the Cat" books and even incorporates various words in the style of Pete, such as dynamite and out-of-sight. Young readers can enjoy the story as a simple read aloud or a shared reading experience with a caregiver. VERDICT An inexpensive addition to "Pete the Cat" or fairy-tale remix collections. --Ellen Williams
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Williams, Ellen. "DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Kitty and the Three Bears." School Library Journal, vol. 69, no. 12, Dec. 2023, p. 82. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A779118663/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b51f14cb. Accessed 12 Apr. 2024.
QUOTED: "a simple yet cohesive story with ... vibrant and appealing illustrations."
DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Kitty's Outdoor Art Project. illus. by James Dean. 32p. (My First I Can Read). HarperCollins. Mar. 2023. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780062974327; pap. $4.99. ISBN 9780062974310.
K-Gr 2--Pete the Kitty loves art class. But when his teacher takes them outside for a special nature art assignment, lie's unsure he can make art in this way. As he and his friends collect leaves, sticks, and other outdoor elements and he sees his classmate's creations, Pete comes up with a great idea for his own art project. One to three sentences per page, with a fair amount of repetitive text, make this title appropriate for those who are becoming more independent readers or older readers who need practice with fluency. It would also be a good title to be read aloud when larger format "Pete" picture books are not available. It's a simple yet cohesive story with the vibrant and appealing illustrations readers have come to expect from the franchise. VERDICT A recommended purchase for all early reader collections.--Jennifer Noonan
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Noonan, Jennifer. "DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Kitty's Outdoor Art Project." School Library Journal, vol. 69, no. 3, Mar. 2023, p. 79. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A739108644/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c2ee6114. Accessed 12 Apr. 2024.
QUOTED: "Both longtime and new fans of Pete the Cat will appreciate the message."
DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Cat Saves Up. illus. by James Dean. 32p. (I Can Read 1). HarperCollins. May 2023. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780062974372; pap. $5.99. ISBN 9780062974365.
PreS-Gr 2--Pete the Cat is back to teach kids the value and satisfaction of earning and saving money. After visiting the toy store, Pete realizes that he doesn't have enough money in his piggy bank to buy the coveted Sharkbot. He decides to earn money through chores, such as shoveling snow and planting flowers. He also opens a lemonade stand and successfully resists the urge to spend his new money on things like ice cream and store-bought Halloween costumes. Bright, happy simplistic illustrations bring Pete and his community to life. Both longtime and new fans of Pete the Cat will appreciate the message of this story, while beginning readers will appreciate the repetition and short, easily comprehensible sentences. VERDICT Recommended where stories of Pete the Cat are popular and where beginning readers are in demand. --Kristy Pasquariello
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Pasquariello, Kristy. "DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Cat Saves Up." School Library Journal, vol. 69, no. 4, Apr. 2023, p. 123. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A743483902/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8cd45d90. Accessed 12 Apr. 2024.
QUOTED: "The Deans's latest book for early readers includes illustrations rich with contextual clues."
DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Cat's Not So Groovy Day. illus. by James Dean. 32p. (I Can Read!). HarperCollins. May 2022. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780062974228; pap. $4.99. ISBN 9780062974211.
PreS-Gr 2--Everyone's favorite cat is back, but this time the adventure is not so groovy. Pete is having a very bad day. It seems like every childhood mishap that can happen does. From a dirty favorite shirt to a missed bus to forgotten school supplies, Pete just doesn't see how this day can turn around. In the end, Pete's friend Callie turns out to be his playground hero, reminding Pete that even if his day isn't groovy, he still is. The Deans's latest book for early readers includes illustrations rich with contextual clues and opportunities for story prediction. The text includes short sentences with repetition. Characters converse, which provides an opportunity to highlight and introduce dialog with quotations. VERDICT Purchase for early reader collections, as Pete the Cat is always a hit.--Heather Maneiro
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Maneiro, Heather. "DEAN, James & Kimberly Dean. Pete the Cat's Not So Groovy Day." School Library Journal, vol. 68, no. 6, June 2022, p. 66. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A705791251/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f05d8e5f. Accessed 12 Apr. 2024.