194. Pete the Cat Plays Hide-and-Seek

Pete the Cat Plays Hide and Seek. James and Kimberly Dean. 2022. [September] 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Pete and the gang love to play hide-and-seek! And who's the fastest seeker? Cool Cate Pete. 

Premise/plot: Pete the Cat wants to have an absolutely groovy time playing hide-and-seek with his friends. But Pete the Cat is having a horrible time finding his friends! Every time he thinks he's found a friend, it turns out NOT to be that friend. What's a groovy cat to do? 

My thoughts: I wanted to love this one. I did. But Pete the Cat is just not the same being written by James and Kimberly Dean. It's like the difference between a floating-high helium balloon (like at a birthday party) and the next day fallen flat balloon. It's not that it's completely and totally lifeless. You can find some enjoyment to be sure. But the same it is not. I wanted this book--whether fair of me or not--to have the same vibes as Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. I wanted to have a groovy message delivered in a memorable, catchy predictable way. Instead, we just get the message to breathe in and out and not be in a rush. Which I guess is okay???

So the ending of this one is that even though Pete has looked just about everywhere for his friends, when he closes his eyes and breathes in and out, then poof they are right before his eyes. Are we supposed to believe that they were a) there all along and Pete was just too blind to see what was right in front of him, the super-obvious. OR b) all his friends had pity on him and moved while his eyes were closed so that they could be found??? Either way, I'm more meh than excited.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers