Pete the Cat and the new guy

Pete the Cat has a brand-new next-door neighbor Gus, a platypus and he has never met anyone like him before. That's OK, though, because, as Pete says, I think being different is really very cool. The new friends spend a week trying to find things to do together, but Gus can't climb trees, leapfrog, or juggle. But just as Pete sadly exclaims, I wish there was something we could do, he hears the rockin' sound of a drumbeat from Gus' yard, and they find the solution: they can jam together all day long. Though the loosely rhythmic verse has an awkward beat, the welcome message of acceptance comes through loud and clear. Dean's now-iconic Pete is his usual big-eyed, spindly limbed self, and the addition of the goofy-looking platypus is sure to delight the many fans of the series.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist

Pete the Cat tries to find an inclusive activity for the "new guy" in town. Pete and his pals are jamming when the "new guy" moves in next door: It's Gus the platypus, who sports a backward baseball cap and a goofy smile. Professing eagerness to make a new friend (as always, it's hard to tell from his heavy-lidded, couldn't-care-less expression), Pete acknowledges Gus' physiological peculiarities by assuring him that "I think being different is really very cool." But how to include Gus? He can't climb like Squirrel, jump like Toad or juggle like Octopus. Despite Pete's encouraging if vague refrain"Don't be sad, / don't be blue. / There is something / everyone can do!"Gus, despondent, retreats to his house and consoles himself with his drum set. Pete exclaims, "He found something cool he can do with us!" The text is cast in a loose, poorly metered rhyme that dissolves into prose and then reforms with no apparent pattern. The message of inclusiveness is likewise incompletely explored. Why doesn't Pete ever just ask Gus what he likes to do instead of flailing about aimlessly? For that matter, why don't the Deans give Gus a personality? For all Pete's stated embrace of "being different," there is no attempt to develop or celebrate Gus' difference in any meaningful way. Lackluster text, muddy message, poor character development: not cool. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.