Review - Pete the Cat Checks Out the Library

Pete the Cat Checks Out the Library (Pete the Cat)
by James Dean
Date: 2018
Publisher: HarperFestival
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 24
Format: e-book
Source: library

New York Times bestselling author and illustrator James Dean shows us how much fun reading can be in Pete the Cat Checks Out the Library.

It's Pete the Cat's first time at the library. He gets a fun tour of library and even reads a few super cool stories while he's there.

Without even leaving the library, Pete goes on so many groovy adventures. All Pete needs is a little imagination--and of course, his library card!

A great introduction to the library from everyone's favorite groovy cat.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is my first real experience with Pete the Cat (aside from a few pages of a Christmas e-book that was so corrupted that it was unreadable). I have to say, I do not like the illustrations. It's a shame, because the story in this one isn't too bad.

Pete goes to the library for the first time. Then he sets about looking at books, both fiction and non-fiction, and imagines himself as being part of those books. This makes up the bulk of the narrative, with Pete imagining himself as various characters or real people (er... cats), having adventures or making neat discoveries or just generally being interesting. The message is one of a love for reading, and how you can be whatever you imagine when you're reading.

I found the illustrations annoying, actually. The sleepy-eyed look of the characters actually makes me think they're all looking upwards or rolling their eyes. It's hard to look at for 24 pages, when every single character is drawn like this! The rest of the illustrations are colourful but rough, and not very refined at all. I'm just not a fan.

Well, now I know what Pete the Cat is all about. Sure, reading is "groovy"... but the pictures in this series are not. I think I'll probably be giving the rest of the series a pass (but I might recommend this particular book to other readers, since the story is fine; taste in illustrations is subjective).

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5