Kimberly Dean (1)

I was excited to see a new Pete the Cat picture book, but this lacks the awesomeness of the first two Petes. In this new installment (written not by Eric Litwin, but by the illustrator James Dean and his wife Kimberly), Pete is feeling blue. Luckily, Grumpy Toad (who does not look grumpy, nor is he actually grumpy, despite the name) lends Pete his COOL, BLUE, MAGIC sunglasses. The glasses cheer Pete right up!

Then Pete meets a grumpy squirrel. He pays it forward by letting the squirrel wear the glasses. So, I expected the squirrel to be wearing them on the next page, but THEY'RE BACK ON PETE. So Pete just let squirrel wear the glasses for a hot minute? Huh. Pete lets a series of grumpy animals try the glasses, and on the next page, those glasses are always back on Pete. I guess Pete's not as generous as Grumpy Toad.

Finally, the COOL, BLUE, MAGIC sunglasses break and a wise owl tells Pete that he never really needed them to be happy (like the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz telling Dorothy she always had the power to go home). Then, on the final page, GRUMPY TOAD IS WEARING THE GLASSES! Even though they just broke! Either they magically un-broke or Grumpy Toad has a stash of COOL, BLUE, MAGIC sunglasses.

Not a bad effort, but not a great one either.

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