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Pete the Cat: I Can Read!
Pete the Cat: Pete's Big Lunch: A Heartwarming Story for Children (Ages 4-8) about Food Creativity, Friendship, and Sharing Lunch
Pete the Cat is hungry. What should he make for lunch? Pete decides to make a sandwich!
But this isn't an ordinary sandwich. . . . Pete has some pretty groovy ideas about what should go inside. And the bigger this sandwich gets, the more ideas Pete has! But what happens if Pete's sandwich gets too big for him to eat?
32 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2013
About the author
James Dean
232 books268 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
James Dean is the original creator and illustrator of Pete the Cat. He is a self-taught artist originally from Fort Payne, Alabama. His passion for drawing became apparent at a young age, and as a child, you could find James drawing his favorite characters like Snoopy and Yogi Bear.
James earned his degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and went on to work for Georgia Power for a number of years. Eventually, he was called to pursue his art full- time and began selling his work at art festivals around the Southeast. It was during this time that he began creating paintings and drawing of his cat, Pete.The little blue cat showed up as a character in James’s artwork around 1999 and has been a permanent fixture ever since.
James Dean’s art has been sold in more than ninety galleries and shops across the United States. He has devoted his paintings to Pete the Cat for fifteen years and turned his natural love for cats into his life’s work. James published his first book, The Misadventures of Pete the Cat, a history of his artwork, in 2006, and he illustrated his first self-published children’s book, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, in 2008. There are now almost 100 published Pete the Cat titles with more coming out all the time. James is humbled every day by the success that this groovy blue cat has brought him. He says positively affecting children’s lives is his number one priority, and he is grateful to have such an amazing audience to work for.
James Dean is the original creator and illustrator of Pete the Cat. He is a self-taught artist originally from Fort Payne, Alabama. His passion for drawing became apparent at a young age, and as a child, you could find James drawing his favorite characters like Snoopy and Yogi Bear.
James earned his degree in electrical engineering from Auburn University and went on to work for Georgia Power for a number of years. Eventually, he was called to pursue his art full- time and began selling his work at art festivals around the Southeast. It was during this time that he began creating paintings and drawing of his cat, Pete.The little blue cat showed up as a character in James’s artwork around 1999 and has been a permanent fixture ever since.
James Dean’s art has been sold in more than ninety galleries and shops across the United States. He has devoted his paintings to Pete the Cat for fifteen years and turned his natural love for cats into his life’s work. James published his first book, The Misadventures of Pete the Cat, a history of his artwork, in 2006, and he illustrated his first self-published children’s book, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, in 2008. There are now almost 100 published Pete the Cat titles with more coming out all the time. James is humbled every day by the success that this groovy blue cat has brought him. He says positively affecting children’s lives is his number one priority, and he is grateful to have such an amazing audience to work for.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 239 reviews
May 27, 2018
What can your child learn from this book?
Being creative. What kind of food can you fit inside a sandwich?
Getting perspective. How many things can you actually fit inside a sandwich?
Learning her/his limits. Can I really eat this huge sandwich all by myself?
Acknowledging his/her friends. Are there actually people out there that they would like to eat a sandwich with me?
Appreciating sharing. Will I make my friends happy if I share my sandwich with them?
I believe this little, sweet, educative, funny book is suitable for children up to first grade, maybe beginning of second grade.
Being creative. What kind of food can you fit inside a sandwich?
Getting perspective. How many things can you actually fit inside a sandwich?
Learning her/his limits. Can I really eat this huge sandwich all by myself?
Acknowledging his/her friends. Are there actually people out there that they would like to eat a sandwich with me?
Appreciating sharing. Will I make my friends happy if I share my sandwich with them?
I believe this little, sweet, educative, funny book is suitable for children up to first grade, maybe beginning of second grade.
January 20, 2016
Review by my 5 year old:
http://www.platypire.com/pugglepires/...
I liked it because he couldn't fit all the lunch in his mouth, so he called his friends so they could eat with him. It is good to share, and it makes everyone happy.
http://www.platypire.com/pugglepires/...
I liked it because he couldn't fit all the lunch in his mouth, so he called his friends so they could eat with him. It is good to share, and it makes everyone happy.
September 22, 2021
Read for my toddler’s nap time. Pete was hungry and made a sandwich for himself. He kept thinking how the sandwich was too small and add more and more. Eventually the sandwich got way too big so he invited his friends over to eat with him.
Read from kindle unlimited.
Read from kindle unlimited.
December 19, 2018
This was a really nice story. I really like how they snuck the lesson in at the end.
March 27, 2013
I know I have shouted out by love of Pete the Cat before, but I just can’t help myself. I LOVE Pete! His blue, true, laid-back ways always make me smile.
A new “I Can Read!” series with Pete captures all the energy, warmth, and fun of his picture books in big, clear, simple words for readers just starting their journey into the magical world of words.
Pete sets out to make a sandwich with pickles, cheese, eggs, hot dogs, and a can of beans! Haha…What? It could be yummy. :D But as the layers of food fun climb higher and higher, Pete realizes there is just too much food for him to eat alone. So what’s a cat to do? Call some friends to help of course!
A colorful, cute tale filled with Pete’s unique brand of fun and lessons to live by.
Hope you dive in or better yet—share it with a friend. :)
September 7, 2015
bacchanalian refrigerator raiding is exactly what will happen when the cats take over
June 9, 2025
There is a fat dog in this one
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2025
So conflicted about this one.
Pourquoi le chien mange plus que des autres? C'est pas juste. Et aussi, pourquoi Pat a-t-il fait un sandwich si il voulait manger la crème glacée?
Pourquoi le chien mange plus que des autres? C'est pas juste. Et aussi, pourquoi Pat a-t-il fait un sandwich si il voulait manger la crème glacée?
June 29, 2023
Wasn’t much of a sandwich but I’m glad they shared.
March 11, 2019
It was funniest book EVER!
January 8, 2020
Pete makes a sandwich. By which I mean he makes a big pile of food. The story is simplistic, maybe appropriate for new readers.
February 19, 2026
Raymond: I really liked the way Pete put all kinds of food on his sandwich. This book made me hungry. I liked how he invited all his friends over, that was very nice.
April 16, 2026
He shared his lunch with his friends because it was too big for him
July 9, 2020
Like _The Bad Banana_, _Big Lunch_ is another favorite in my household. The odd food items reminds us of _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_ in the best way.
July 18, 2013
Pete the cat is hungry, so he decides to make a sandwich, but when he starts building it he simply can't stop. Pretty soon his sandwich is way too big for him to eat alone, so he invites all his friends to join him for lunch. After all, as he says, "Sharing is cool."
This is a fun, silly tale with a nice message about sharing at the end. Many students will enjoy watching Pete's absurd sandwich grow out of control -- way too big for one cat to eat.
Please note: Although this book is billed as an early reader, the fine print calls it a "My First Shared Reading" book and suggests that adults share it with emergent readers. Also, those who expect this to be like the previous Pete the Cat books, with the rhythm and the music, may be in for a disappointment, as the original author has moved on. As a standalone book, however, it's a fun story.
This is a fun, silly tale with a nice message about sharing at the end. Many students will enjoy watching Pete's absurd sandwich grow out of control -- way too big for one cat to eat.
Please note: Although this book is billed as an early reader, the fine print calls it a "My First Shared Reading" book and suggests that adults share it with emergent readers. Also, those who expect this to be like the previous Pete the Cat books, with the rhythm and the music, may be in for a disappointment, as the original author has moved on. As a standalone book, however, it's a fun story.
August 31, 2018
My girls and I love Pete the Cat. In this adventure, great to read to emerging readers, Pete tries to make himself a sandwich. He adds all of his favorite things, but before too long, Pete realizes this sandwich is WAY too big for him. So, he invites his friends over to share his big lunch. Everyone has a great meal, and a great time, and thanks Pete for sharing.
My daughter chose this book as her prize at Barnes and Noble for reading over the summer break. It's a paperback, short and sweet. The story is cute, Pete is a great character, and this is fast becoming a story time favorite at our house.
My daughter chose this book as her prize at Barnes and Noble for reading over the summer break. It's a paperback, short and sweet. The story is cute, Pete is a great character, and this is fast becoming a story time favorite at our house.
March 28, 2013
Our family loves pete the cat. My 5 yr old is taking a pete the cat class at the library next week. We can't wait! Even my 2 yr olds love these stories! And the illustrations are excellent!
April 16, 2013
LIAM'S REVIEW (7 years old)
This book is so cool. I saw the dog still have a cracker! lol I think everyone should read it.
This book is so cool. I saw the dog still have a cracker! lol I think everyone should read it.
February 23, 2015
It's the first learn-to-read book my preschooler actually showed interest in. For that, 5 stars.
July 3, 2016
Don't judge me, it was a gift and it counts. :-)
January 21, 2025
Pete's Big Lunch is about failing upward in a bro-y startup culture.
Pete is hungry, so he decides to make himself a sandwich. It becomes clear from the outset that Pete does not know how to make a sandwich. In the illustration, Pete stacks his fillings on top of a loaf of supermarket bread, still sealed in the bag.
Pete can sense something is wrong, but he's unclear what or how to fix it. Does that stop him? Does he pause and call in an expert? Nope! Bouyed by false self-confidence, Pete sails ahead with the same strategy that has thus-far failed. He keeps stacking things that "taste good" on top of his loaf, hoping that somewhere along the way it will start to look like a sandwich.
It does not.
By the time he's scooped ice cream on top, Pete realizes he now has a second problem: not only does his sandwich not resemble a sandwich, but it is also impossible to eat. This is where he decides to call in his friends and launch his product.
Pete's friends sweep in and demolish the "sandwich." They didn't care that it failed to resemble a traditional sandwich. Pete is disrupting the Sandwich Industry! He's come up with something completely innovative in the sandwich realm! They absolutely love it, and they reassure him that his failure was, in fact, an enormous success.
However, when he asks them to seed fund his next startup, they all suddenly remember that they have somewhere else to be.
Pete is hungry, so he decides to make himself a sandwich. It becomes clear from the outset that Pete does not know how to make a sandwich. In the illustration, Pete stacks his fillings on top of a loaf of supermarket bread, still sealed in the bag.
Pete can sense something is wrong, but he's unclear what or how to fix it. Does that stop him? Does he pause and call in an expert? Nope! Bouyed by false self-confidence, Pete sails ahead with the same strategy that has thus-far failed. He keeps stacking things that "taste good" on top of his loaf, hoping that somewhere along the way it will start to look like a sandwich.
It does not.
By the time he's scooped ice cream on top, Pete realizes he now has a second problem: not only does his sandwich not resemble a sandwich, but it is also impossible to eat. This is where he decides to call in his friends and launch his product.
Pete's friends sweep in and demolish the "sandwich." They didn't care that it failed to resemble a traditional sandwich. Pete is disrupting the Sandwich Industry! He's come up with something completely innovative in the sandwich realm! They absolutely love it, and they reassure him that his failure was, in fact, an enormous success.
However, when he asks them to seed fund his next startup, they all suddenly remember that they have somewhere else to be.
September 21, 2021
Ever since my grandson laid eyes on this book, we have read it at least once a day. I brought it home from the library and I think I have the book memorized at this point. I know I 'll have to buy a copy of it, as he’ll dig to find it amongst the pile of library books. He's only 2 years old and he already knows a good story when he finds one.
The moral of the story is sharing and I like that both Pete and his friends are appreciative of each other in this story. With captivating illustrations, Pete is hungry for lunch, and decides that a sandwich is just what he wants. But, as he makes this sandwich, it just becomes bigger and bigger until finally he realizes that it’s just too big for Pete to eat on his own. The solution? After thinking about it, Pete calls up his friends and tells them to come over.
I like Pete's style: he's cool, calm and collective and so are his friends. It's a feel-good story in which everyone wins. At our house, we like to talk about the illustrations after reading the story: what everyone is eating, who is eating and with what, who came together and where are they sitting, Another great Pete story for our house.
The moral of the story is sharing and I like that both Pete and his friends are appreciative of each other in this story. With captivating illustrations, Pete is hungry for lunch, and decides that a sandwich is just what he wants. But, as he makes this sandwich, it just becomes bigger and bigger until finally he realizes that it’s just too big for Pete to eat on his own. The solution? After thinking about it, Pete calls up his friends and tells them to come over.
I like Pete's style: he's cool, calm and collective and so are his friends. It's a feel-good story in which everyone wins. At our house, we like to talk about the illustrations after reading the story: what everyone is eating, who is eating and with what, who came together and where are they sitting, Another great Pete story for our house.
Read
June 12, 2020Pete the Cat: Pete's Big Lunch has a moral of the story, sharing. Pete had fixed a large lunch and instead of saving it all for himself (knowing he could not finish it), he invited friends over to share his lunch with. All of Pete's friends gathered around the table for lunch devouring the food. When the food was gone and everyone was finished Pete's friends did not forget to say, "Thanks for sharing!" Of course, Pete uses his manners and responds with "You're welcome." He even says "Sharing is cool." What a great lesson!
The language in Pete the Cat books makes for easy access for less advanced readers. Each story, including Pete the Cat: Pete's Big Lunch tells an excellent story with a moral that young children can understand. In this case, it was sharing. What a great way to work on reading skills and teach students more about sharing. Young children have a hard time grasping the idea of sharing, so I think incorporating the idea into literature is a fantastic touch.
The language in Pete the Cat books makes for easy access for less advanced readers. Each story, including Pete the Cat: Pete's Big Lunch tells an excellent story with a moral that young children can understand. In this case, it was sharing. What a great way to work on reading skills and teach students more about sharing. Young children have a hard time grasping the idea of sharing, so I think incorporating the idea into literature is a fantastic touch.
March 31, 2021
Book Title: Pete the Cat: Pete's Big Lunch
Author/Illustrator: James Dean
Reading Level: 1.6
Book Level: K-2
Book Summary:
Pete the Cat is hungry. He is going to make the grooviest sandwich ever! His sandwich might just be too big for just one cat! What is he going to do?
Bookshelf Genre: Picture Books
Bookshelf Mentor Writing Traits:
Sentence Fluency - The sentences in the book have nice rhythm and flow. When the author poses a question, the reader is given clues as to what Pete is going to do. The reader is able to read the sentences with ease due to short length.
I would have my students practice writing short sentences. I would start with 3 to 4 word sentences and using different verbs for each sentence. I would also have them per review their sentences.
Author/Illustrator: James Dean
Reading Level: 1.6
Book Level: K-2
Book Summary:
Pete the Cat is hungry. He is going to make the grooviest sandwich ever! His sandwich might just be too big for just one cat! What is he going to do?
Bookshelf Genre: Picture Books
Bookshelf Mentor Writing Traits:
Sentence Fluency - The sentences in the book have nice rhythm and flow. When the author poses a question, the reader is given clues as to what Pete is going to do. The reader is able to read the sentences with ease due to short length.
I would have my students practice writing short sentences. I would start with 3 to 4 word sentences and using different verbs for each sentence. I would also have them per review their sentences.
April 27, 2022
After reading Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, I picked up a pack of Pete the Cat readers at Costco for Lily. They are all cute, but none of them are quite as good as the first one.
Pete the Cat's sandwich is too small, so he keeps adding stuff until it gets enormous and he realizes he needs to get help eating it. He calls all of his friends. The sandwich is good, and "sharing is cool." I loved how the "sandwich" was just a pile of random stuff, including a loaf of bread still in its bag. Very funny and a fun story about sharing.
Pete the Cat's sandwich is too small, so he keeps adding stuff until it gets enormous and he realizes he needs to get help eating it. He calls all of his friends. The sandwich is good, and "sharing is cool." I loved how the "sandwich" was just a pile of random stuff, including a loaf of bread still in its bag. Very funny and a fun story about sharing.
November 26, 2018
This is just a silly story about Pete making a huge sandwich with odd ingredients because the sandwich is "missing something" only to discover in the end that it is too big to eat alone. Pete then invites all his friends over to share his lunch. It is cute that Pete invites all his friends over in the end (and my students love that Pete is friends with a dog), but this sort of silliness just isn't for me. I read this story because my students enjoy the silliness of making such a ridiculous sandwich but they do not find it laugh-out-loud funny either. Not the worst Pete the Cat book I've read but it is just okay.
January 29, 2017
Pete takes the reader on an adventure through lunch - an event to which all children can relate. Pete assembles contents of his refrigerator into a silly sandwich.
This book is great. The colorful, simple illustrations hold kids' attention. The story is just silly enough to keep them engaged.
I would use this book in therapy to assess several different phonemes. Also, it's an easy way to look at how the child handles books physically. It also allows me, as a clinician, to see if the client understands the humor in the story. I recommend it.
This book is great. The colorful, simple illustrations hold kids' attention. The story is just silly enough to keep them engaged.
I would use this book in therapy to assess several different phonemes. Also, it's an easy way to look at how the child handles books physically. It also allows me, as a clinician, to see if the client understands the humor in the story. I recommend it.
February 9, 2021
The Pete the Cat series reminds me of David Shannon's David series I used to read as a kid (No, David, David Gets in Trouble, etc) with its silliness and hand-drawn illustrations, and 1st/2nd graders seem to love Pete. In this book, Pete stacks ingredients together to make a sandwich (fish, apples, mayo, beans, bananas, ice-cream) until it's too big for just him, and he calls his friends over to help him eat it all.
"You're welcome," Pete says.
Sharing is cool.
"You're welcome," Pete says.
Sharing is cool.
November 13, 2019
This is a very cute beginning level book for new readers. It was full of great sight words and "picture reading." (Meaning the students can look at the pictures and guess/ know what the text is saying.) The book was about Pete building a sandwich based on all the things he loves. This would be a great book the have in a kindergarten classroom library. It can be used as a book that students can individually read or as a reading group. Overall, I liked this book as a beginning level book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 239 reviews