Module 6: Pete and Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons -Picture Books

Book Summary: 

Pete the Cat has four groovy buttons on his shirt.  One by one the buttons fall off.  The beauty of the story is that Pete remains calm and continues on with his song.  He continues until all of the buttons have popped off of his favorite shirt.  He does not panic or cry he remembers that he still has a button left, his belly button.

APA Reference:

Litwin, E. (2012). Pete the Cat and his four groovy buttons. New York, NY: Harper.

Impressions:

This is such a fun book to read to pre-kindergaren up to second grade.  It is always fun to be able to sing parts of books and then listen in the halls as students sing the songs after library time.  The illustrations are so much fun and Pete, is one cool cat.  I love that he does not worry about the small stuff and looks for the positive outcomes in a negative situation. It is awesome to have access to the music online and be able to share and teach this to the students.

Professional Review:

In his third outing Pete the Cat follows the pattern of his previous appearances: Despite repeated wardrobe malfunctions, he maintains his upbeat attitude and bouncy charm. This time around the focus is on the buttons on Pete's favorite shirt, instead of his shoes, and there's even a bit of math involved. Still, for readers who have met Pete previously there's not much here that's new. Pete moves from his cozy chair to a skateboard to the street outside to a surfboard on top of an old-style Volkswagen Beetle. In each spot, for no apparent reason, one button pops off. The repeated refrain asks "Did Pete cry?" and answers "Goodness, no! Buttons come and buttons go." As a song it's likely perky, but read aloud, the text can seem tedious and overlong. Still, the brightly colored, childlike paintings and playful typography should keep kids' attention, and some will also enjoy identifying the large numerals as they count backwards from four to zero. A final twist finds Pete admiring his bellybutton, which will always be with him unlike the "stuff" that "will come and…go," offering the option of a mildly anti-consumerist message for parents who choose to emphasize it.

Pete the Cat and his four groovy buttons. (2012). Kirkus Reviews, 80(7) 743.

Library Uses:

This book could be used to show how authors can use nominal (2) and cardinal (two) to help tell the story. The lesson could even extend to ordinal and ask what color button popped off first, second, third and fourth.