Pete the Cat

It's no secret that I have a bit of a book addiction.  We have thousands of books in my classroom!  Some are displayed in baskets year-round, like this:

(The book basket labels can be found here:)

Many are filed away in unit boxes in my cabinets, and if I'm being completely honest I will admit that in a deep dark corner of my storage closet there are at least 10 big boxes of books from my days as a 2nd grade teacher.

I have a special "red bookshelf" that I use to rotate out books about the themes we are studying, or about the holidays.  One side of the shelf is for regular books, and the other side houses our books on CD.

At the very beginning of the year, I put out Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes.  Oh.My.Word!  The students fell in love with this book!  (And so did the teachers.)  Pete sings such a catchy tune!  The students will sit at the listening center with their headphones on and, without realizing it, sing along to the book at the top of their lungs.  The entire class stops what they are doing and usually joins in.  I have "I am Rocking.  In my school shoes!  I am Reading.  In my school shoes!" stuck in my head all. day. long.

So, I had a brilliant idea to order a few more Pete books, hoping to add a little variety to the listening center.  But, what happened?!?  My students became Pete the Cat junkies.  "I love my white shoes.  I love my white shoes." "My Buttons, my buttons, my 4 groovy buttons...  Oh no!  Does Pete worry?  Goodness no!"  Instead of having 1 song stuck in my head, now there are 3.

  

I tried "remerchandising" the books.  (Read: I hid them at the back of the Books on CD basket.)  I put out some great Halloween books on CD.  I gave book talks promoting other catchy, fun books.  And, what do I find at the end of each day?  Pete the Cat, unearthed and right back on my special red book shelf.  To quote Pete, "It's all good."

Are your children as crazy about Pete the Cat as mine are?
Enjoying playing and learning (and reading and singing) with your children today!