Pete the cat runs into some problems in this book collection. First he can't decide what to wear for school, then he has to try his best in the baseball game, then he doesn't want to get wet at the beach, and then he doesn't have anyone to share his lunch with.

With the popularity of the Pete the Cat picture books, more stories are sure to follow. In this collection of five beginning reader books, the famous cat is back, engaging in new adventures with his hip style. However, while the picture books depict a cool cat, a character who seems to have it together and is ready to teach youngsters a lesson about accepting life and its changes, the Pete the Cat shown in these books is different. He seems younger, and is grounded in a reality that the picture books infrequently show. For example, readers see his whole family, watch him at school, see him on a baseball team and inviting his friends over for a feast when he got a little carried away making a sandwich. In other words, these stories depict every day events in the life of a kid, and Pete is that kid.

I love the Pete the Cat picture books, because they have a rhythm and pacing that is a delight to read aloud, and a funky sense of peace and acceptance captured by Pete's character. Sadly, these stories do not retain the great language of the original stories. They have the simplified sentences and vocabulary one expects from a beginning reader story, but none of the repetition or lyricism that begs to be read out.

Pete's character is out of tune, too. He occasionally uses phrases like cool, but his grooving personality doesn't always fit the situation. For instance, why would Pete the Cat be influenced to wear what everyone else wants him to wear, and not make his own choices? Why is he so afraid of water, when he is so good at adapting to change? Also, it doesn't feel believable that he would make one mistake after another in his ball game, and just be happy about it. The lesson to the story is fine - have fun and do your best - but it rings false to a child's experience to say that it won't upset you sometimes in that particular context. Discrepancies like these jump out at me every time I read the books to my daughters.

The publishers banked on the popularity of Pete to sell a series of books that are really just average stories that don't align well with Pete the Cat from earlier books. They aren't bad, mind; just in comparison to the picture books, the language, the characters, and stories are inferior. Nonetheless, kids who love Pete the Cat will probably love these books. They build a world up around Pete, give him friends and family, and young readers will appreciate it. ( )