Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses: 09/25/16

Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by Kimberly and James Dean is the first Pete the Cat book to be written by the illustrator, rather than musician Eric Litwin. Pete's having a tough day, nothing is going right. So a friend gives him a pair of magic sunglasses to cheer him up and he passes along the good deed to others in need.

The original Pete the Cat books have a strong, rather obvious message of rolling with whatever life throws at you. It's not that Pete is a heartless cat, rather he's just very self assured and happy. Seeing Pete on an off day already sets this book off on the wrong note, as it were.

In the first book, Pete the Cat, I Love my White Shoes, Pete's beautiful new shoes end up splashing through all sorts of things and turning all sorts of colors as he goes through his day. He doesn't need help to overcome the shock of potentially ruining his shoes. Instead he laughs it off with a "Goodness, No!" and carries on his merry way.

Here though Pete seems to have forgotten that mantra. All sorts of little annoyances (like the weather) are getting him down and he needs his rose tinted Ray Bans to perk up and then once cheered up, goes on to share them with other animals in similar distress. I see Pete as such a happy cat that he'd be the one making up the story of the sunglasses being magic to cheer up his friends.

It's a minor quibble, I realize, but it was something both my daughter and I picked up on while reading Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses.

Three stars

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