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Pete the Cat

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This article is about the picture book cat. For the cat from London, see Peter, the Lord's cat. For the former Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, see Peter (chief mouser). For the Disney character, see Pete (Disney).
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes
Front cover
AuthorsKimberly Dean, James Dean, Eric Litwin
IllustratorJames Dean
Cover artistDean
LanguageEnglish
SeriesPete the Cat
GenrePicture book, song
PublisherHarperCollins (2010)
Publication date
2008 (self)
Publication placeUnited States
ISBN978-0-06-190622-0
OCLC529761572
Followed byPete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes 

Pete the Cat is a fictional cartoon cat created by American artist James Dean. The series started with four books illustrated by Dean and with text by Eric Litwin; since then, James Dean and his wife Kimberly Dean have written and illustrated the series of books.

Content

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The first book, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, is the story of a cat named Pete whose white shoes become dirty after he steps in various substances, but "Pete never loses his cool".[1] Written as a song, its refrain is "I love my white shoes", changing to "I love my red shoes", "I love my blue shoes", and "I love my brown shoes". He then steps in a bucket of water and the colors wash off, and they become wet, but still never loses his cool, he just sings his song.

The book was self-published in 2008 and sold 7,000 copies in 10 months before it was picked up by HarperCollins – alerted by a YouTube meme in which two little girls read the book – and distributed throughout the United States and Canada. It rose to number 8 on the New York Times Best Seller list for picture books.[2]

There have been 87 Pete the Cat books published.[3]

Author and illustrator

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Eric Litwin (also known as "Mr. Eric") is an American storyteller and musician from Atlanta, Georgia.[4]

Dean holding up his original drawing of Pete the Cat at the 2013 Mazza Museum Summer Conference

The book uses a character first devised by James Dean, an artist active in Atlanta,[5] who drew up Pete in 1999 and in 2006 self-published The Misadventures of Pete the Cat.[6] Litwin wrote a story about and a song for the cat, and the two began a partnership.

The collaboration between Dean and Litwin ended in 2011. James Dean and his wife, Kimberly Dean, continue to write and illustrate the Pete the Cat series (now over 60 books) together.

Honors

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In 2010, the Georgia Center for the Book released a list titled "25 Books All Young Georgians Should Read". Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes is one of the books included in that list.[7][8]

Adaptations

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Television

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On December 26, 2017, an animated holiday special, Pete the Cat: A Groovy New Year, was released on Amazon Prime.[9] Jacob Tremblay starred as the title character, with his parents voiced by Elvis Costello and Diana Krall. Additional voices were provided by Atticus Shaffer, KT Tunstall, and Don Was.[10] It was followed by a Pete the Cat series which was released on September 21, 2018.[11] It was based on the books and developed by Phineas and Ferb co-creator Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. The series also has a Christmas special titled Pete the Cat: A Very Groovy Christmas which was released on November 20, 2018, guest starring Dave Matthews and Jason Mraz.[12] There are tie-in books based on the TV series. A second season began production as of February 2019.[13] Throughout June–July 2019, clips from then-unreleased episodes from season 1 were uploaded to the Pete the Cat YouTube channel.[14][15] The clips were later taken down in July 2019, but were reuploaded one month later. The second half of season 1 was released on August 9, 2019. A Valentine's Day special titled Pete the Cat: A Very Groovy Valentine's Day was released on February 7, 2020.[16] The first part of season 2 premiered on June 26, 2020.[17] For season 2, Marsh and KT Tunstall replaced Elvis Costello and Diana Krall as Pete's parents. Three days later, the series also released a PSA about hand washing.[18] The second part of season 2 was released on November 13, 2020. A back-to-school special, Pete the Cat: Back to School Operetta, was released on August 27, 2021.[19] The third part of season 2 was released on November 5, 2021.[20] The fourth and final part of season 2 was released on March 11, 2022.[21]

Musical

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TheatreWorksUSA has created two Pete the Cat musicals.[22][23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Doyle, Maya. "Rev. of Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on February 8, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  2. ^ Oliviero, Helena (April 17, 2010). "Atlanta's 'Pete the Cat' makes literary, artistic strides". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on August 13, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  3. ^ "Pete the Cat". www.fictiondb.com. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  4. ^ Cauley, H.M. (July 20, 2006). "Battle of Atlanta: 142nd Anniversary. Civil War showdown revisited: Ghostly tales, tours of sites will mark turning point for re-enactment". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. JB4. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  5. ^ Oliviero, Helena (May 24, 2009). "Sharing lives, work is an art". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  6. ^ Dean, James. The Misadventures of Pete the Cat. Indigo Custom. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  7. ^ "Center for the Book announces list of 25 books for young Georgians". Georgia Public Library Service News. 8 (2). Atlanta, GA: Georgia Public Library Service: 5. ISSN 1546-511X.
  8. ^ "25 Books All Young Georgians Should Read". Georgia Center for the Book. 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  9. ^ Petski, Denise (February 13, 2017). "Amazon Greenlights Kids Series 'Pete The Cat' & 'Costume Quest'". Dateline. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  10. ^ Grow, Kory (December 19, 2017). "Elvis Costello's New Year's Resolution: 'Enjoying Everything Still Enjoyable'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  11. ^ Pedersen, Erik (August 15, 2018). "'Pete The Cat': Trailer & Premiere Date For Amazon Toon Series Starring Jacob Tremblay". Dateline. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  12. ^ Nickolai, Nate (October 19, 2018). "What's Coming to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime in November 2018". Variety. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  13. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (February 5, 2019). "Yeti Farm Grows with Alcon & Amazon Prime's 'Pete the Cat'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  14. ^ "Pete The Cat Sallys Bedroom Prime Video". YouTube. June 18, 2019. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  15. ^ "Pete The Cat Pink Pyjamas Prime Video". YouTube. June 20, 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-02-26. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  16. ^ Singer, Matt (2020-01-17). "Everything Coming to Amazon Prime in February 2020". ScreenCrush. Archived from the original on 2020-01-18. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  17. ^ Murphy, Mike (2020-05-30). "Here's everything coming to Amazon Prime Video in June 2020". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on 2020-05-27. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  18. ^ Prime Video Kids (2020-06-29). Pete the Cat: Wash Your Paws | Prime Video (Video). Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  19. ^ "New on Amazon Prime Video October 2021, Plus What's Coming Next". October 2019.
  20. ^ "What's Coming to Amazon in November 2021".
  21. ^ "What's New on Amazon Prime Video in March 2022". Collider.
  22. ^ "Pete the Cat".
  23. ^ "Pete the Cat's Big Hollywood Adventure".
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