'Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons:' A Children's Picture Book

This book makes a great kindergarten graduation gift

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons book
 Photo from Amazon

"Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" is the third picture book featuring the mellow blue cat and his positive attitude towards life. While the story revolves around Pete and his reactions when one by one, he loses his four groovy buttons, "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" is also a number concept book. Like the other Pete the Cat books, this one will appeal to kids 3 to 8, including beginning readers.

Who Is Pete the Cat?

Pete the Cat is a unique character, unlike any other cat you'll come across in children's literature. The narrator who introduces Pete and talks about him emphasizes how well Pete responds to life situations. Pete the Cat is a laid-back wacky looking blue cat, whose motto seems to be, "It's all good." Whether it's a new situation, a loss of something or a problem, in the Pete the Cat picture books, Pete doesn't get upset. Pete sings a cheerful song through every situation and everything always turns out fine because of his attitude. Young children find Pete the Cat's adventures both funny and reassuring.

Humor, Numbers and a Message

"Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" is appealing for a number of reasons. It's a clever concept book that focuses on the numbers 1 to 4, subtraction and counting down. The illustrations prominently feature the numbers "1," "2," "3" and "4" and the words "one," "two," "three" and "four." The illustrations also introduce children, probably for the first time, to what a subtraction problem looks like (example: 4-1=3). With lots of different colors on every page, children will have fun identifying different colors and objects ("Show me a red button." "Show me something else that's red.") for the reader sharing the book with them.

However, while all of that is well and good, that's only one of the reasons I like the book so much. In the first place, it's not just Pete the Cat's buttons that are groovy. Pete is definitely a groovy cat. I like Pete the Cat and I like the positive message his actions send.

The Story

Pete the Cat's favorite shirt has "four big, colorful, round, groovy buttons." Pete loves the buttons and likes to sing about them: "My button, my buttons, / My four groovy buttons." When one of the buttons pops off, you'd think Pete would be upset, but not this cat. "Did Pete cry? / Goodness no! / Buttons come and buttons go." Pete just sings his song again, this time about his three buttons. He has the same reaction when another button pops off and he's down to 2 buttons, and, then, one button and, then, zero buttons.

Even when the last button pops off, Pete the Cat doesn't get upset. Instead, he realizes he still has his belly button and happily begins to sing about that. The constant repetition as each button pops off and Pete the Cat reacts to the loss means that your child will probably be chiming in before you get down to zero and will happily help you tell the story again and again.

The Author, Illustrator, and Pete the Cat Books

James Dean created the Pete character and illustrated "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons." Dean, a former electrical engineer, created the Pete the Cat character based on a cat he saw at an animal shelter. Eric Litwin wrote the story. Litwin is an award-winning musician and storyteller, known for such CDs as "The Big Silly with Mr. Eric" and "Smile at Your Neighbor."

"Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" is the third Pete the Cat book by Dean and Litwin. The first two are Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes and Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes. After "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" came "Pete the Cat Saves Christmas." 

Awards and Recognition for "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons"

  • Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award
  • ALSC Notable Children’s Books 
  • Flicker Tale Children's Book Award, North Dakota Library Association
  • Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award
  • Bridge to Reading, Dubuque Picture Book Award
  • Niagara Children's Planning Council, The Regional Chair Early Years Niagara Literary Award

Pete the Cat Extras from the Publisher

On the Pete the Cat site you can download a companion song and watch a video for each of the picture books. You can also download Pete the Cat activities, including: Pin the Shoe on Pete, Spot the Difference, Maze and much more.

'Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons:' Recommendation

Pete the Cat is such a cheerful, laid-back character and the song for each book is a nice touch. Each of the Pete the Cat books have a simple message. In this picture book, kids are encouraged to relax and not get too dependent on stuff for happiness because "stuff will come and stuff will go."

Pete the Cat books are very popular with boys and girls who are just beginning to read. The kids love the Pete the Cat character, the zany illustrations and the repetition in the books. "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" is recommended for ages 3 to 8 and makes a great graduation gift. HarperCollins published "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" in 2012. The ISBN is 9780062110589.

More Recommended Picture Books

For alphabet and rhyming fun, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" is a good book for kids who love the magic of books and "The Gruffalo" is a book children enjoy hearing again and again. Two classic picture books you won't want to miss are "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak and "The Very Lonely Caterpillar" by Eric Carle.

Format
mla apa chicago
Your Citation
Kennedy, Elizabeth. "'Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons:' A Children's Picture Book." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/pete-the-cat-and-his-four-groovy-buttons-627378. Kennedy, Elizabeth. (2023, April 5). 'Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons:' A Children's Picture Book. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/pete-the-cat-and-his-four-groovy-buttons-627378 Kennedy, Elizabeth. "'Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons:' A Children's Picture Book." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/pete-the-cat-and-his-four-groovy-buttons-627378 (accessed March 29, 2024).