Summer and learning. For most kids, the two don’t go hand in hand. Fortunately, if you disguise the lessons with a fun-filled feline adventure, you can likely avoid summer brain drain.
That’s where Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons comes in handy.
The eye-popping picture book written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean combines reading, math, music and slew of helpful life skills in a delightful tale featuring a laid-back cat with a passion for wearing button-down shirts.
Thanks to Pete’s panache for crafting catchy tunes your kids won’t even realize they are getting schooled in a series of serious lessons.
The book begins with Pete sporting his favorite yellow shirt that features four colorful buttons. However, as the story progresses, the buttons begin to disappear. One pops off while Pete’s skateboarding, another takes a dive when he’s eating ice cream, and yet another falls off when Pete attempts to hang ten at the beach.
Soon, the big-eyed kitty is left with a button-less shirt.
Oh the horror!
Not so much with Pete.
The calm cat remains cool as a cucumber in a vat of hot sauce.
Rather than cry, whine and moan, Pete starts singing about his loss. The folksy feline shows kids, “It’s all good,” and tantrums aren’t necessary even when things go wrong.
In addition to teaching kids to roll with the punches when life doesn’t go according to plan, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons incorporates simple math facts into the preschooler-appropriate plot.
Each time a button falls off, the event is noted with an equation, such as 4-1=3; 3-1=2; 2-1=1, and so on. Kids can countdown until all of Pete’s buttons are gone… or are they?
The book’s last page features a hilarious surprise ending that I won’t spoil here.
Learn a new song and a whole lot more this summer by picking up Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. You can preview the book on HarperCollins’ website or purchase a copy at discount retailers nationwide.
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