Pete the Cat: Construction Destruction: Includes Over 30 Stickers! – A Groovy Building Story About Playground Creation, Teamwork, and Dreaming Big

Pete the Cat

by James Dean, Kimberly Dean

Pete the Cat builds a playground in New York Times bestselling artist James Dean's Pete the Construction Destruction.

When Pete sees that the playground is in bad shape, he gets a totally groovy idea—make a new playground! Pete calls in construction workers and cement mixers, backhoes and dump trucks to build the coolest playground ever. In the end, Pete learns that to make something special, you have to dream big. Complete with over 30 stickers!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Construction, Fiction, Animals, Cats, Storytime

24 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 24, 2015

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[A Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't like Pete the Cat but my students do so I somehow keep finding myself reading these stories. This one, like the others, is just ridiculous. Pete is excited about recess until he realizes that the playground could use some work. He draws up plans and the principle says "whatever you need, Pete, it's yours" which is absolutely not how this would go. Then, a construction crew arrives and Pete is in charge. They demolish the old playground and start making a new one. THEN Pete in all his entitled nonsense decides it isn't "cool" enough. He changes the plans!! The construction team says "it will be too hard to build" and "everything is almost finished" but Pete makes them do it anyway. Pete doesn't respect the construction workers' hard work. After the playground is finished to Pete's new standards, it falls down!! Pete thinks this is "even better" because now there are surprises. A playground that falls down is not a playground for kids to be playing on! This entire story is nonsense.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids loved this book, and I loved the message it portrayed. I'm planning to get more Pete the Cat books to read to my kids!

[Lgordo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another Pete the Cat book that utterly missed its own point. I think these books must have been written by someone with no critical thinking skills whatsoever. This one is especially offensive to good engineering.

It starts out implausibly enough: the playground is derelict but Pete has an idea to fix it. The school hires him a crew and they build off his blueprint.
So far so good.
But at the last minute Pete decides to make some changes. He has even better ideas! The crew warns him this is not smart. Does he listen? No. The new playground has not been properly vetted or QC'd. It falls down immediately.

Ah, you think. This is an important lesson to young builders. Plan things through. Don't go crazy. Good engineering is deliberate.

Also, you wonder what will happen now? Do they rebuild the original plan? Rebuild the second plan, now with proper structural integrity?

Nope. Through some deus ex machina, when you turn the page the playground is fully built in the most random way possible. How did this happen? No idea. And this time, even though there is *less* planning, vetting, and QC, it stays up. Why? Because this is a Pete the Cat book and it must defy logic.

Just to put the nail in the screwy messaging, Pete tells you on the final page: "don't be afraid to dream big!"

Excuse me? What? How did you get there? Which part of this was a big dream? To be honest, it's a nightmare I cannot wait to wake from. At what age do they finally outgrow Pete the goddamn Cat?

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If your kid is a diehard Pete the Cat fan like mine is, he or she will probably like this book. If, like me, you miss Eric Litwin's singable writing, you should let your kid read this book on their own.

[Morgan Hagenbuch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pete has no business being in charge of the school's playground. If the playground him and his buddies carefully planned didn't hold up, what makes him think the new one they haphazardly built will be any better. It is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[Alina Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

someone left this at work so i read it because i was bored. real page turner. nice art. i don’t care about playgrounds though :/

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The school playground is old and decrepit. Pete the Cat gets construction workers to build a new one. When things don't turn out as planned, something even better happens.

[Ljlauterbach · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I like Pete the Cat and his message in this book is good, there are some inaccuracies. It talks about there being a backhoe in the story, but clearly the picture is an excavator. It was my just turned three year old who made the comment while I read the word backhoe that it wasn’t a backhoe it was an excavator. For someone who writes children’s books, it would be nice if the pictures and words were accurate. A miss for the editor too.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one's a little odd. Pete and his friends get the go ahead to build a new playground for their school. Pete tries to design the best, most awesome playground ever, but the thing falls apart. But instead of rebuilding, Pete likes the random way everything has ended up, so they go with that. But no one addresses that IT WOULD STILL BE UNSTABLE! The moral of the story should be something about overplanning versus spontaneity, but instead it's "Sometimes you have to dream big."

[Katy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate this book. I don't get why the principal is letting "children" build a playground. Also why is going off the original plans encouraged? It ends up in a poorly constructed rush job that immediately collapses--and the resulting mixed up playground is NOT the most amazing playground ever, it's a safety hazard. And NONE of this relates to the ending of "sometimes you've got to dare to dream big". Ugh.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 5 year old was aghast that they called an excavator a back hoe. I read the page and he immediately says "that's not a backhoe!"

Say it with me "if you have a construction vehicle in your book, illustrate the correct vehicle!"

How do books get published with something simple that a five year old can find?

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fantasy book is sure to make you laugh and leave you wanting to read more about Pete the Cat! One day Pete the Cat was at school, and it was time for recess, so he headed outside. However, to his dismay, the playground was in terrible shape! So, Pete takes it upon himself to fix it with the help of a few friends and permission from the principal. Although Pete and his friends faced a few obstacles, they worked very hard to fix the playground, and soon it was complete! Although, sadly, it did not stay up very long. Can you imagine how this made Pete feel? In the end, Pete made the most out of his situation and was happier with the outcome!
I would share this book as a read aloud in any K-2 classroom. In my classroom, I could use this book to teach a lesson about determination. This is because, within the book, Pete the Cat was determined to fix the playground, and even when things went wrong, he did not give up. Pete always made the most out of the situation. So, from this, I could ask the students to think of a time when they could have been more determined or when they are going to be determined. This could lead to an activity where they make a plan like Pete the Cat did to execute their goal of determination. Additionally, this could be used to teach a lesson about teamwork. In the book, Pete the Cat acknowledged that he could not build the playground alone. Similarly, life is easier when we work together to get things accomplished, as well. This could lead to a team-building activity where I ask each table group to redesign our playground outside using the materials provided. This would teach them the power and the value of teamwork. This book resonated with me because it was engaging and creatively taught valuable lessons. I think this would be a very good fantasy book to introduce students in an elementary school classroom to so that they can learn life lessons in a fun and engaging way. They would be able to implement what is learned from the book directly into their lives. I would definitely recommend reading this book!

[Mavis’s Dad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pete the Cat is not impressed with his school yard playground set. He draws up new plans and hires a crew to get a new one set up.

Moral: Sometimes you’ve got to dare to dream big.

Length: Very short and digestible for a little one.

Favorite Line: “Building a playground is hard work.”

Overall impression: This one didn’t seem as witty as other Pete the Cat books. I guess that’s because building the playground is serious business. What kid doesn’t want a bigger better playground at their local park/school yard? One thing remains consistent with Pete the Cat: He dreams big, so his plans are big. The playground collapses in the end, so I’m not sure how it met its moral. Mavis didn’t seem to care. Warning: Watch out for the clown in the illustrations. He spooked me.

[Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids at school love love love "Pete the Cat" books. It doesn't matter the topic, if Pete the cat is there, the kids want it. Their favorite is "Pete the cat and the Magic Sunglasses", but this book is just as cute. In the case of me reading this, it was to a group of 1 and 2 year olds, and they loved the use of onomatopoeia and the overall storyline. However, I read other versions of Pete the Cat to my K through 2nd graders.

[Kimberly Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute Pete book about rebuilding the school playground. After Pete takes everyone's ideas and tries to make them all happen, he realizes that the original design was the best of them all. Good book for preschool through 1st grade.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is Pete a student or a teacher? I am confused. Oz enjoyed this story of construction and destruction. I found it vaguely unstructured much like the playground. Perfect for your Pete the Cat and construction equipment loving preschooler.

[Tiffany Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this book with my nephew and it has some great aspects to it. Throughout the book, there are many onamonapias that are shown with the construction that is being done at the playground. this book can really help young readers to understand what an onamonapia is.

[Emily Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm still not a huge fan of Pete the Cat, but the children seem to enjoy these books, so we tend to choose them for storytime. This was chosen for a construction theme and, surprisingly, the children weren't very interested in this title.

[Jenn Swanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pete the Cat decides to build a new playground. My daughter seemed entertained by this book. Would recommend for kids that love seeing construction sites.

[ColumbusReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best Pete the Cat yet! Nice story, concept and colorfully vibrant illustrations. Yes!

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the least plausible part of this fiction was when the playground was in shambles and the principal said he could have whatever he needed to build a new one. OUTLANDISH.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a little moral at the end of the story. I'm not a big fan of Pete the Cat. The story was a little weak.

[AMY · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is just ok. Pete doesn't like his run-down playground at school and begins a construction project to upgrade it. Pete fans will like it ok. Recommended for Grades K-2.

[Christine Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summer Learning 2017: Build a Better World. Pete and his friends rebuild their playground.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great community and construction project book where Pete the Cat and his friends build a new playground for school. love the construction sounds. preschool and up

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

liked this book...fixing up old things...making plans...tearing down and building up...and how the end result may not be what you wanted...but is a good thing anyway...

[Misbah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pete the Cat and his friends get together and build new playground equipment for the school yard.

[Jude · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Pete the Cat series is generally all right, although I could do without the constant use of Litterbox font.

[Zoe Stockton · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[Oliver]

Chinese edition