Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons (review)
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This latest installment in the Pete the Cat series opens with Pete putting on his favorite shirt, the one with "four big, colorful, round, groovy buttons"—when all of a sudden ("POP! OH NO!") a button pops off and rolls away. Pete doesn't sweat it, though; instead, he goes on to sing about his three buttons, then, when it happens again, his two buttons, his one button, and, finally, when all the buttons have popped, his certain-not-to-pop-off-and-roll-away belly button. While this [End Page 31] possesses much of the same catchy readaloud flavor of the previous titles, it is slim on plot and a bit too heavy on repetition. Moreover, while the central lesson of the story seems to be the repeated refrain that "buttons come and buttons go," young listeners are not likely to care much about the permanence (or impermanence) of buttons, making this a somewhat weak focus for a lesson in going with the flow. Still, the snappy tune is great fun, and the laid-back characterization of Pete juxtaposes perfectly with his wide-eyed expression and cool blue color. Teachers will appreciate the simple subtraction concepts integrated into the text (complete with numeric formulas), and viewers will love the bold acrylic and line compositions. Pair this with previous titles for a Pete-inspired story singalong or share the video version of the story, available online, for a multimedia storytime.
