(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. On a "bug safari" in Cool, Pete brings home a caterpillar. He's concerned when it seems to disappear but excited when it finally emerges as a butterfly. Pete gets creative in Bake Sale, taking his baking failures and turning them into "groovy berry goodness." The stories are slight, but fans should enjoy the playful illustrations that complement the simple emergent-reader texts. Review covers these titles: Pete the Cat and the Cool Caterpillar and Pete the Cat's Groovy Bake Sale.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 Forget the ants; when the Petes (as in Pete the Cat and his doppelgängers) go marching one by one, "the groovy one stops to have some fun" etc., until Pete and his band are ready to perform. As always with Pete vehicles, the text seems incidental to the outta-sight illustrations: pen, ink, and paint creations in tie-dye colors.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. On a "bug safari" in Cool, Pete brings home a caterpillar. He's concerned when it seems to disappear but excited when it finally emerges as a butterfly. Pete gets creative in Bake Sale, taking his baking failures and turning them into "groovy berry goodness." The stories are slight, but fans should enjoy the playful illustrations that complement the simple emergent-reader texts. Review covers these titles: Pete the Cat and the Cool Caterpillar and Pete the Cat's Groovy Bake Sale.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) PS Illustrated by James Dean. Pete the Kitty--a younger iteration of Pete the Cat introduced in this book--has high hopes for his playdate at Grumpy Toad's house, but his host is having trouble sharing ("That truck is MINE! MINE! MINE!"). In typical Pete-book fashion, the Deans often ignore rhythm to complete a rhyme, but James Dean's art in tie-dye colors gives off a welcoming hippie vibe.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. When cat Pete's mom is the substitute teacher (surprise!), the usual routine is upended. Attempts to find the art room misfire; at lunchtime, the class finds itself on the playground. Pete takes it all in stride: "Let's have a picnic." The slight but nicely circular story concludes with an art-y surprise for Mrs. Cat. Loosely rendered, laid-back illustrations help support new readers.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 "Five little ducks went out to play, / With one cool cat leading the way." Readers familiar with the classic kids' song can guess the rest: Dean's popular feline creation loses ducks one by one until he has no playmates left. Talk about no harm, no fowl: although the rhymes' rhythms can falter, the wry, tie-dye-bright art justifies this rendition.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Twelve previously published stories (some as easy readers) are adapted "to be read in five minutes or less" and collected here in one somewhat over-hefty volume. Pete's many fans won't care about the repetitive text and flat storytelling; the bright, eye-catching illustrations enhance blasé Pete's cool factor.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. The Tooth Fairy asks for Pete's help (Lost Tooth); Pete invites his friends over to play in his new treehouse (Tip-Top). Levelheaded Pete keeps his trademark cool when a tooth can't be found and when his treehouse needs expanding for a party. The stories are slight, but series fans should enjoy the playful illustrations that complement these simple emergent-reader texts. Review covers these I Can Read Book titles: Pete the Cat and the Lost Tooth and Pete the Cat and the Tip-Top Tree House.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. The Tooth Fairy asks for Pete's help (Lost Tooth); Pete invites his friends over to play in his new treehouse (Tip-Top). Levelheaded Pete keeps his trademark cool when a tooth can't be found and when his treehouse needs expanding for a party. The stories are slight, but series fans should enjoy the playful illustrations that complement these simple emergent-reader texts. Review covers these I Can Read Book titles: Pete the Cat and the Lost Tooth and Pete the Cat and the Tip-Top Tree House.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(4) K-3 Five previously published stories ("Five Little Ducks," "Go, Pete, Go!," "Pete the Cat and the New Guy," "Robo-Pete," and "Construction Destruction") are accompanied by the series' signature brightly colored, loose-lined paintings and a handful of inspirational quotes. The tales aren't mind-blowing in plot or style, but the messages of individuality, kindness, friendship, and openness to new experiences are worthy.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) K-3 Illustrated by James Dean. As usual with ultra-mellow Pete the Cat's outings, the rhymes don't land because the authors give cadence too little consideration. Nevertheless, this story, in which Pete's cloddish dance moves keep wounding his animal friends, has humor as well as heart (via Wise Old Owl's reassuring dance-however-you-please message). James Dean's signature mixed-media art in sun-bursting colors capture the pep in Pete's step.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Pete the Cat goes scuba diving in hopes of seeing a seahorse. Questions ("What could it be?") help lead readers through the slight story with a clipped early-reader text suited to Pete's signature chilled-out personality. The bright illustrations should hold the interest of observant beginning readers: the seahorse is actually tagging along with Pete on every page.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Pete the Cat is excited for a snow day, but after three of them, he can't wait to go back to school. The unrealistic story has Pete plowing the roads so school can reopen and he can share his snow adventures during show-and-tell. Repetition in the easy-to-navigate text, along with the recognizable characters in Dean's signature illustrations, increase the new-reader appeal.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(4) K-3 Illustrated by James Dean. In his latest picture book, the laid-back cat has his dander (slightly) up: someone has been filching cupcakes, two at a time, that Pete and his backward-cap-sporting platypus friend Gus baked for a cupcake party. Unfortunately, the story's rhymes, which come and go, can't keep the beat. Still, James Dean's illustrations--paintings in a blazing palette with strong black outline--are reliably attention-grabbing.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Words of wisdom from luminaries such as Picasso, Einstein, and Plato are explicated by cool cat Pete, whose huge expressive eyes add to the humor of the textured pen-and-ink, watercolor, and acrylic illustrations. Pete's thought bubbles provide "groovy" (if simplistic) translations of quotations: e.g., alongside Eleanor Roosevelt's "You must do the things you think you cannot do," Pete thinks, "Nothing is impossible!"

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) K-3 Pete the Cat series. Musings on love from a wide range of subjects--Lucille Ball to Marcel Proust to Confucius--are offered by cool cat Pete, whose huge expressive eyes add humor to the textured pen-and-ink, watercolor, and acrylic illustrations. Pete's thought bubbles provide "groovy" (if unilluminating) interpretations of quotations: e.g., alongside Virgil's "Love conquers all," Pete thinks atop a mountain peak "Love makes anything possible!"

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) K-3 Illustrated by James Dean. After a day of surfing, cat Pete invites three animal friends to his house for a sleepover, but their various bedtime habits harsh his mellow ("This cool cat needs to go to bed!"). The ending is something of a snore, but the jazzy illustrations play to this series' conceit: Pete is a too-cool-for-school feline who's a pussycat at heart.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Pete the Cat and a turtle wander around Old MacDonald's farm noting the animals--chickens, dogs, horses, etc. (Oddly, the goat says baa and the sheep says maa.) The illustrations feel somewhat static, and there's not much here to hold the viewer's attention. However, Pete the Cat fans may enjoy seeing him down on the farm.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. At the beach, Pete's brother goes surfing. Pete says, "Maybe later." Mom suggests going in the water, but Pete says, "Maybe later." The family is patient, and finally Pete works up his courage to try the surfboard. He loves it. Dean's signature cartoon cats provide an enjoyable backdrop for the hard-to-miss moral that it's "okay to be afraid. But it is more fun to surf!"

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) PS Pete the Cat series. Slack-eyed, unblinking Pete puts down his guitar (for a bit) and drives a school bus. The sing-along standard serves as the text: the wipers swish, the signals blink, etc., and there are a few modifications as well: "Sit with us!"; "Let's rock out!" Not much happens and no one's expression changes, but it's a colorful ride nonetheless.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn