I Love My White Shoes (Pete the Cat Series)

by Eric Litwin, James Dean (Illustrator), Kimberly Dean

Overview

Don't miss the first and bestselling book in the beloved Pete the Cat series!

Pete the Cat goes walking down the street wearing his brand-new white shoes. Along the way, his shoes change from white to red to blue to brown to WET as he steps in piles of strawberries, blueberries, and other big messes!

But no matter what color his shoes are, Pete keeps movin' and groovin' and singing his song...because it's all good. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes asks the reader questions about the colors of different foods and objects—kids love to interact with the story.

The fun never stops—download the free groovin’ song.

Don't miss Pete's other adventures, including Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, Pete the Cat Saves Christmas, Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses, Pete the Cat and the Bedtime Blues, Pete the Cat and the New Guy, Pete the Cat and the Cool Cat Boogie, Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes,  Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party, and Pete the Cat: Crayons Rock!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061906220
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/02/2010
Series:	James Dean's Pete the Cat Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	6,793
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD460L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Eric Litwinis a guitar-strumming, song-singing, banjo-picking, tale-telling, song-writing, national-award-winning, music-producing, fun, folksy type of guy. He loves to blend song and story together and is inspired by the depth and simplicity of folk songs and folktales. Eric is a popular performer, delighting thousands of children and families every year. He has recorded two award-winning children's music CDs.

James Dean is the original creator and illustrator of Pete the Cat. He is a self-taught artist originally from Fort Payne, Alabama. His passion for drawing became apparent at a young age, and as a child, you could find James drawing his favorite characters like Snoopy and Yogi Bear. 

James earned his degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and went on to work for Georgia Power for a number of years. Eventually, he was called to pursue his art full-time and began selling his work at art festivals around the Southeast. 

It was during this time that he began creating paintings and drawing of his cat, Pete. The little blue cat showed up as a character in James’s artwork around 1999 and has been a permanent fixture ever since. 

James Dean’s art has been sold in more than ninety galleries and shops across the United States. He has devoted his paintings to Pete the Cat for fifteen years and turned his natural love for cats into his life’s work. James published his first book, The Misadventures of Pete the Cat, a history of his artwork, in 2006, and he illustrated his first self-published children’s book, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, in 2008. There are now almost 100 published Pete the Cat titles with more coming out all the time.

James is humbled every day by the success that this groovy blue cat has brought him. He says positively affecting children’s lives is his number one priority, and he is grateful to have such an amazing audience to work for. 

Kimberly Dean is a children’s author, artist, and yoga enthusiast best known as a NYT bestselling author and co-parent of children’s book character Pete the Cat. Before fulfilling her dream of becoming a full-time author and artist, she worked for the State of Georgia, leaving the Governor’s Press Office in 1998 to pursue her art. 

She began selling her work at art festivals in 1999 and opened a small art gallery in 2003. She dabbles in multiple mediums and enjoys experimenting with new styles and techniques. She says of her job, “I love what I do!  Work is like going to kindergarten everyday!”

 In 2004, she began collaborating with fellow artist James Dean to create children’s books about Pete the Cat. The Misadventures of Pete the Cat, a coffee table book of James’s art, was released in 2006. Her dreams of becoming a published children’s book author became a reality in 2013 with the release of her first children’s book, Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses. She has now written many of the Pete the Cat books, as well as started another series starring her own characters Willow and Oliver.

Kimberly lives in Savannah with her dog, Gypsy, and cat, Phoebe. Her children and grandchildren live nearby, and her favorite word is “Lovie,” which is the name her grandchildren lovingly call her.

Editorial Reviews

2014-04-22
An imperturbable blue cat walks along and sings his song regardless of what he steps in.Pete the Cat loves his white Chucks so much that he sings a repetitive ditty: "I love my white shoes, / I love my white shoes, / I love my white shoes." (In order to accompany himself, he removes the two sneakers from his front feet and picks up an electric guitar.) Presumably not looking where he is going, he steps into a "large pile" of strawberries. The bright gouache illustrations depict Pete standing atop a mountain of red fruits—on it, not really in it, but no matter. His shoes turn red; Pete thinks to himself that "everything is cool!" and sings about his red shoes. Then—"Oh no!"—he steps into a heap of blueberries. "What color did it turn his shoes?" asks the narrator. All the children who have learned basic color theory will cry, "Purple!" and feel betrayed when the page turn indicates that Pete's sneakers have in fact turned blue. A walk through some mud turns them brown, and then a stroll through a bucket of water turns them white again. (Now they go "squeak squeak squeak" as he walks.) Pete's ability to shrug off the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune without even opening his eyes all the way is a quality many parents might wish their children shared, but it makes him awfully hard to relate to.Pete may seem like an appealing role model to adults, but any child who has experienced the smirching of a new pair of shoes probably won't buy the cool he's peddling. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews

Gr 1—A slight episode about a navy-blue cat, new white shoes, and maintaining a positive outlook. Pete the Cat strolls down the street singing, "I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes." Then he steps in (actually climbs up) a huge hill of strawberries that turn his pristine sneakers red. "Did Pete cry? Goodness, no! He kept walking along and singing his song. I love my red shoes...." He proceeds to step in a mound of blueberries and then a mud puddle, each incident changing his sneakers to a new hue (the colors never blend). Unsmiling but placid, Pete takes it all in stride. After stepping into a "bucket"—more like a tub—of water, he notices that his sneakers are not only white again, but also wet. Even though they are back to their original color, the next illustration perplexingly shows Pete walking along with each shoe sporting one of the four colors highlighted in the book. Bright, childlike illustrations show the long-limbed feline regularly altering his footwear but continuing not to watch where he's walking. The moral of the story—keep going no matter what happens to you in life—may sound like good advice, but it doesn't instill any sense of power in children; it just tells them to accept their fate. The downloadable song might help spark interest, but there's not much here to get excited about.—Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI

School Library Journal