Kindergarten teacher Sarah Schonauer leads a reading lesson as Woodland Principal Kim Johnson looks on.
A cat “who never loses his cool” is helping Mansfield City Schools elementary students with their reading.
A series of books featuring Pete the Cat – written in simple sentences -- is the centerpiece of a reading campaign for children in kindergarten through third grade. Pete does all kinds of things – sings, plays a guitar, rides a skateboard, plays baseball, even paints pictures of his goldfish.
“Everything about Pete is so simple. I think that’s why kids are so into him,” said Woodland Elementary Principal Kim Johnson. “The things he does we all do. Even when things don’t go right for Pete, he doesn’t get upset.”
Kids are reading about Pete and drawing him in art class. Pete will make a live appearance during Woodland’s literacy night program on Oct. 22.
Woodland students are reading other books too as they work toward a goal of completing 30 books each quarter, 120 by the end of the year. The district’s other elementaries have similar reading campaigns.
On Aug. 5 the district premiered a two-minute video which emphasizes the importance of parents reading to, or with, young children each day. The video, filmed in the Woodland library, features children from Prospect, Sherman and Woodland schools.
Pete the Cat’s adventures are written and illustrated by James and Kimberly Dean of Savannah, Ga. Pete’s official website explains:
“In 2004 Kimberly and James Dean sat down at their kitchen table to work on a children’s book together. Their dream became a reality with the release of the Pete the Cat book, “Pete and His Magic Sunglasses.” Both left corporate jobs in the late nineties (James was an electrical engineer, Kimberly worked in the press office of the governor of Georgia) to purse their passion for art, and they have experienced a life made up of strange and wonderful coincidences ever since. Pete the Cat has brought magic into their lives. They work in side-by-side studios, sharing their home with five cats and Emma the pug.”
Harper Collins publishers, which distributes Pete the Cat books, describes Pete as “a groovy blue cat who, no matter where he goes, always keeps his cool.”