Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas


Pete the Cat Saves Christmas
by Eric Litwin

Twas the day before Christmas and Santa was ill.
In the cold winter wind he had caught a bad chill.
Will Christmas be canceled? Will it come to that?
"Never!" cried Santa.
"Let's call Pete the Cat!"



            Pete the Cat Saves Christmas is a spin of the traditional Christmas tale “The Night before Christmas,” where Santa is too ill to deliver the gifts on Christmas Eve and must enlist Pete the Cat to help. Pete saddles up the reindeer for the big night and “then the minibus flew, just like in a movie. Pete the Cat cried, 'This is totally groovy!’” When Santa first enlists Pete’s help for this momentous task, Pete is nervous as he knows it will be a tough task, potentially filled with obstacles – will he be able to fill Santa’s boots and ultimately save Christmas? 

All of the characters in the book are cats, and the flow of the book mimics the rhythm of “The Night before Christmas.” This is an illustrated children’s book that is based on Eric Litwin’s famous character “Pete the Cat”.  Pete the Cat stars in four books – Pete the Cat: I love my white shoes (2010); Rocking in my school shoes (2011); Pete the Cat and his four groovy buttons (2012); and Pete the Cat Saves Christmas (2012). The lyrical narrative and great illustrations are appealing to young children. Pete’s books always teach an important lesson, such as the importance of doing your best, not giving up and helping others which is evident in Pete the Cat Saves Christmas.

The publisher of this book, HarperCollins, provides fun activities and videos to go along with this book on their website. This includes songs that match up with the book, and a fun video of the reading/singing of the story along with animations. There are also other activities to go along with the other “Pete the Cat” books. The website is http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/feature/petethecat/
 
Pete the Cat Saves Christmas is a great book to read with children over the Christmas season as the lyrical rhythm is fun and the illustrations are amusing. Happy Holidays!



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