First sentence: Groovy Joe is totally fun. He's a song-singing, tail-wagging party of one! And he rocks like this. Disco party bow wow! Disco party bow wow! Knock! Knock! Who's there? One! One who? One more dog is going to disco with you! How many dogs are there now?
Premise/plot: Groovy Joe is ready to DISCO. Though this starts out as a me-party, a party of one, it soon turns into a big dance party! Groovy Joe is always happy to open his door and welcome more into his home.
My thoughts: Eric Litwin's original Pete the Cat books made me giddy. Those original books are: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, Pete the Cat: Rocking In My School Shoes, Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. I love them all. I especially love singing Four Groovy Buttons and I Love My White Shoes. There's something magical about the stories and songs--and how seamlessly the two work together. I fell in love with the character and his GOODNESS NO! philosophy of living life. That "Goodness No!" philosophy is back with Groovy Joe. And I think a lot of the things I absolutely loved about his earlier work is present in this story.
This one features math--addition. (Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons was all about subtraction.) It follows a definite pattern. "Does Joe get upset? Goodness no! He keeps rocking!" And it features a moral--as many of the Pete the Cat stories did. The moral of this one is: "There's always room for one more!"
Watch him perform part of the story. Listen to the whole story.
Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10
© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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