Pete the Cat (I Love My White Shoes)

Creator/Illustrator: James Dean
Story by: Eric Litwin
Publisher: HarperCollins
Purchased: Received as a gift

Pros: I have to be honest here. On my first read of this book I was like “um, what is this?”. The illustrations were messier than I was used to, for one. But, as this was a gift from a friend with a toddler, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and continued to read it to my little guy. And what do you know – it grew on me! Pete the Cat is now a favorite in our household – though I will refrain here from getting into a discussion about the books written by Eric Litwin vs those written by James Dean (the creator). I also have to admit that I’ve never actually gone online to listen to the tune – instead I’ve just made my own tunes up to sing along with the words. I kind of like it better that way – it’s ours.

For an interesting interview with James Dean on how Pete the Cat was created, you can check out this article here.

Side note: Does it bother anyone else that if Pete’s shoes were red and he stepped in blueberries, his shoes would in fact be PURPLE, not blue? Oh, the fun of reading picture books too many times and picking up on things you should never, in fact, think of.

Durability: 4 bite marks. Holding up pretty well for a regular picture book (i.e., not a board book).