Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes

Book and a downloadable song! And it's very educational, too!

Litwin, Eric.
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.
March 2010.
HarperCollins Publishers.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

The youngest of children will appreciate the story being shared in Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. Wearing his brand new, white shoes, Pete sets off down the street to take a walk. Along the way, he begins singing,

I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes.

However, Pete's so busy singing, he doesn't realize he's come across a giant pile of strawberries... and his shoes are no longer white, they're red! Pete doesn't become upset though, and instead adjusts his song to fit his shoes. As the story continues, Pete runs into numerous other problems, all of which change the color of his shoes, but not his attitude!

This is a perfect story for children, as it deliberately states at the end of the book,

The moral of Pete's story is:
No matter what you step in,
keep walking along and
singing your song.

I think that because the moral is portrayed throughout the story in a simple manner, children will easily understand the message Litwin was trying to share! Coupled with the free I Love My White Shoes download (provided via gift card inside the book), this book will be perfect to use with my preschoolers next fall - colors, actions/consequences, and self-esteem!

Learning/Reading Activity:

• Download the activity provided by HarperCollins, "Pin the Shoe on Pete." This activity allows each child to design his/her own shoe. Pete is then hung on the wall, students are blindfolded and given the chance to pin (tape) his/her shoe on Pete. Whoever comes the closest to pinning the shoe onto Pete's outstretched paw wins. Give this child the game to take home and share with his/her family.
  
• I have created a Color Recognition activity that can be used with your children. Tell my version of the story of Pete, Pete's Color Recognition Story. As you are reading the story, ask your child to use a crayon/marker/colored pencil to color the shoe with the color that is mentioned as you are reading.
• The curriculum where I teach is High/Scope, encouraging children to be creative. To try and use this book in my classroom, I created an Action-Consequence activity, that allows children to determine what Pete stepped in and what color it changed his shoes. That activity can be downloaded here. I incorporated some of the original Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes text, so that the learning can be extended to other classrooms and at home!
  

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