Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes

Litwin, E. (2008). Pete the cat: i love my white shoes. New York, NY: Scholastic.

New York Times Bestseller Children’s Picture Books List for 48 weeks, and it is currently ranked #7.

Eric Litwin’s Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes tells the story of Pete the Cat who walks down the street singing a song about his new white shoes.  Throughout the book, he encounters huge piles of strawberries, blueberries, and mud, which change the color of his shoes from white to red to blue to brown.  But each time they change color, he does not get upset and just alters the words to his song.  In the end, he steps into a bucket of water, which changes the color of his shoes back to white, though they are now wet.  This book features comical illustrations, with the focal point always being Pete’s shoes.  As his shoes change colors, I like how the font changes color to match, and I also love that the illustrator, James Dean, is able to depict Pete’s eyes in a way that make it really seem as if he does not care.  My favorite part about the story is the moral: “no matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song because it’s all good” (Litwin, 2008).  If only we could always remember this lesson when problems arise!