9. Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. Eric Litwin. Illustrated by James Dean. 2012. 40 pages. [Source: Online Audio]

 First sentence: Pete the Cat put on his favorite shirt with four big, colorful, round, groovy buttons. He loved his buttons so much, he sang this song: 

"My buttons, my buttons,
my four groovy buttons.
My buttons, my buttons,
my four groovy buttons."

Premise/plot: Pete the Cat LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his shirt with FOUR groovy buttons. But life happens....and, well, Pete learns that things--including buttons--come and go. Is this book primarily teaching young children subtraction skills OR is it teaching coping skills an invaluable life lesson perhaps even more important than subtraction?

My thoughts: This one was the first Pete the Cat book I read, and I must say it is probably my favorite. I love, love, love it so much!!! If I Love My White Shoes was "teaching" colors, then Four Groovy Buttons is "teaching" subtraction. For, Pete the Cat loses each of his four buttons one by one. But does Pete cry?! Goodness no! I absolutely love the end of this one!!! And the moral this time: "I guess it simply goes to show that stuff will come and stuff will go. But do we cry? Goodness, NO! We keep on singing."

I first met Pete the Cat circa 2013 when I checked out all the Pete the Cat books from the library. Each of the original books has an audio version online, and these audio versions have been uploaded to YouTube many times. Since I am not using the library these days, I revisited one of my favorite, favorite, favorite books by listening to it. 

Mom and I's favorite refrain--which we've used almost daily--certainly weekly--is DID PETE CRY? GOODNESS NO! This picture book is teaching a wonderfully important lesson in how to live life. And it was certainly relevant in 2020! 

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers