I liked the first half of the book, through Pete's interaction with the squirrels, but then Pete's mom shows up, crushes his spirit and sends the book into a spiral of sadness.

It didn't help that the ebook I read from my library was locked into a two-page spread in the Libby app and on Kindle, with no magnification allowed. The tiny print and images became hard to decipher. ( )

I knew I loved this book when I saw the cover, because it's so excellent. I wasn't sure what to expect inside but I like that too. The illustrations are so adorable, and Pete is an excellent protagonist who just want to tell knock-knock jokes in the nude. Who am I to say that knock-knock jokes aren't better sans pants?

And look at his adorable little elephant feet!

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Summary: This book is about an elephant running around with no pants on pretending to be different things like boulders and squirrels. His mom tells him to put his pants on. Finally he puts his pants on and everyone is happy.
Opinion: It was boring and I felt like it was just a “typical” kids book. I didn’t understand what the point or moral was. I would not recommend this book. ( )

Pete is an elephant who is trying to figure out where he fits in. He keeps comparing himself to other things that are grey and don't wear pants but never seems to quite fit in. At the end of the book, with some encouragement from his mom, he realizes that it is important to just be himself.

The irrepressible Pete imagines himself as any number of objects and creatures, from boulders to squirrels, in this entertaining picture-book romp from Rowboat Watkins. After all, they're all gray, and none of them wear pants! Pete has something of an aversion to pants, as his patient mother can attest...

Having greatly enjoyed Watkins' debut, Rude Cakes, I was curious to see what he would do with this second picture-book venture. I found Pete With No Pants engaging, with some of that same humor found in its creator's earlier book. I didn't love the story quite as much - it lacked a little bit of the surrealism that made his first book stand out - but the artwork was every bit as cute. Recommended to anyone searching for picture-books about children at play, especially children with a disinclination for wearing their clothing. ( )