MaiStoryBook Library

MaiStoryBook: Pete the Cat’s Groovy Imagination + *My Groovy Imagination* Craft

by MaiStoryBook

Introducing a story about using your imagination to create limitless adventures ~ featured in the MaiStoryBook Library Collection:

“Pete the Cat’s Groovy Imagination” by Kimberly and James Dean

*~Click here to purchase your own copy of “Pete the Cat’s Groovy Imagination” to start on your own reading adventure! (This is an affiliate link~ a small percentage of your purchase will go to MaiStoryBook to help create Reading Resources for your littles)

Book Synopsis and Review

Pete the Cat wants to go surfing, but when he looks out the window, it’s raining outside. But no worries! Pete the Cat doesn’t get sad. Instead, he finds a Big and Groovy box, and using his *imagination* Pete embarks on epic adventures~ transforming the big groovy box into all sorts of fantastic imaginative play! For Pete, a big box is all he needs to chase away the rainy day blues.

Pete the Cat is back with his groovy rhythms and playful charm in this read aloud sure to spark imagination and get your own littles super excited about spending the *entire* day with a box to play! This is a fun one to read in a sing-song voice, and excellent for some interactive reading. Have children guess what Pete will turn the box into next, and then get up on their feet to act out his epic adventures! It’s a read aloud that’s sure to be on repeat!

Vocabulary

  • vibes (p. 2) feelings
  • strummed (p. 7) play a guitar, or an instrument with strings, by running your thumb over the strings or plucking them
  • groovy (p. 11) excellent, exciting
  • submarine (p. 19) a ship that can go underwater
  • revving (p. 24) pressing on the gas pedal of a car and making a loud sound

Themes/ Main Ideas

  • Your imagination yields unlimited adventures; There’s never a dull moment when you use your imagination!
  • Flexibility and positive mindset: when something doesn’t go as planned, there’s always another opportunity waiting!

YouTube Video: Guided Shared-Reading Read Aloud Example

Example of a shared-reading, interactive Read Aloud of “Pete the Cat’s Groovy Imagination” – how to subtly introduce the vocabulary list words within the text, ask guided questions, and spark conversation!

Subscribe: MaiStoryBook Youtube Channel for more *interactive* read aloud videos!

*My Groovy Imagination* Craft

Have you ever had your plans ruined by a rainy day? I am a planner. I thrive on routine and the predictable, so when mai carefully curated plans go awry, flexibility isn’t my key strength. So thank goodness there are books like Pete the Cat for even adults like me! Pete the Cat’s Groovy Imagination is an excellent tool to model flexibility and the power of imagination to turn any situation into an adventure. Looking for a way to practice this skill? Just like Pete, start with a box, and see how many adventures you and your little can create! Then, pick one of your favorites and create the bookish craft *My Groovy Imagination* to record how you would transform a box and share your own imaginings!

Materials

Directions

  • Next, choose a “front side”  Box to use.  There are color or black and white versions. 
  • The writing prompt on the bottom Front-side of the Box is : “The box is now a _____”. In both the black & white and color sets, the following templates to answer the prompt are available: a space for a picture and lines for writing, all lines for writing, fill-in sentence and picture, Picture only. 
  • The top has the main chorus from the book. Write your name on the blank after the word “suddenly.”
  • If you choose the color version, color in the box and Pete’s paws.
  • Print the “front side” double sided with the labeled “back side”. 
  • The back side has the writing prompt on it, on the bottom box, and it is upside down so that it can be flipped up. This will allow you to fold up the bottom flap so that you have a rectangle box. 
  • Write your name on the blank “_______’s Groovy Imagination”
  • When you fold the flap back down, the writing/drawing on the inside of the boxwill be revealed.
  • Cut out the box around the outer edges. *Keep the bottom tab on**
  • On the ”front side” of the box,there is a small dotted line right under the lid. Make an incision on that small line. This is for when you fold up the bottom flap of the box. The tab can slide into the incision and keep the  box closed. To reveal the inside, pull the tab out of the incision and reveal the writing/picture inside. 
  • Glue the top of the back of the box to the glue strip under Rainbow Pete so thathis paws are right on both sides of his head.
  • Enjoy sharing how you use your *groovy* imagination to transform the box!

Enjoy Your *My Groovy Imagination* Craft

  • Share your craft with family and friends and show them how you can use your imagination to transform an box into an epic adventure!
  • Practice reading aloud your craft~ great for literacy, fluency, and reading skills practice!
  • Share your craft with family and friends and ask them how they would use their imagination to transform the box.
  • Display your crafts to remind you of the power of Imagination!

*~ I hope you are enjoying plenty of reading adventures, Mai Friends! Tag me on Instagram @MaiStoryBookLibrary or FaceBook , find me on TikTok, or contact me via email to share your own *My Groovy Imagination* Crafts and your own reading adventures! I’d love to hear from you and learn more about how you are strong!~*

Enjoy More SEL Interactive Read Alouds Here!

*~Until next time, Happy Reading~*