Mystery

Pete the Cat and the Mising Cupcakes

By: Kimberly and James Dean 

Presented by: Nicole Cashman 

Summary of the story:  This story is about Pete and his friend Gus making cupcakes for a cupcake party they were throwing for their friends later that day. After making 10 cupcakes and lining them up on the window ledge, Pete and Gus noticed that 2 cupcakes were gone. They wondered what could have happened to them. Pete and Gus went outside to the window to look for clues. They saw their friend Squirrel and said that he took the cupcakes. Squirrel said it was not him and told them where he was when the cupcakes were take. As the 3 of them searched for more clues, they noticed 2 more cupcakes were gone. They saw their friend Alligator and said he took them. Alligator said it wasn't him and where he was when they were taken. Now the 4 of them searched for clues and noticed 2 MORE cupcakes were gone. They saw their friend Turtle and said that he took them. Turtle said it wasn't him and told them where he was when the cupcakes went missing. Now that all the friends were together, they look and searched for clues. They then saw that ALL the cupcakes were gone. They spotted Grumpy Toad and said you took all the cupcakes. Grumpy Toad told his friends that he took the cupcakes. He only wanted one but couldn't stop eating them till they were gone. He told his friends that he was sorry. All the other friends said that because Grumpy Toad took all of the cupcakes, he was not allowed to come to the cupcake party anymore. Pete told his friends that Grumpy Toad made a mistake but said he was sorry. Pete said that everyone deserves a second chance. Pete's friends agreed and let Grumpy Toad come to the party. Grumpy Toad was so thankful that he was still allowed to go to the party, that he brought new cupcakes to share with all of his friends. 

Setting - Daytime at Pete's house/backyard.

Characters - Pete the Cat, Gus, Squirrel, Alligator, Turtle, and Grumpy Toad.

Theme - Mystery of the disappearing cupcakes. Another theme was accepting others apologies and giving someone a second chance. 

Pictures - The illustrations in this book are painted so colorful. The illustrator paints all of the illustrations for the Pete the Cat book and does such a great job using silly facial expressions and colors to draw in a reader. In this book the missing cupcakes disappeared by 2 and it was nice that the illustrator used the text/content to tie into his illustrations, making them a resource for kids to use when counting the cupcakes. 

Pattern - In this book there are 2 patterns. The first pattern is rhyming. Every last word in a sentence rhymed with the last word of the next sentence throughout the entire book. 
The second pattern is a counting pattern. This book used counting down from 10 by 2's. 

Reader response questions - 

1. What clues did you see in the pictures that would help you to find out who took the cupcakes?

2. Why did Pete want to give Grumpy Toad a second chance?

Activities - 

1. Write a mystery short story and put clues in your illustrations.

2. Graphic Organizer - Gave someone a second chance (in the middle circle) and in the outside circles put things someone has done to you.

3. Graphic organizer - Rhyming words

4. Math activity - Counting by 2's

My Personal Thoughts - 
I think this book is a story to read to (K-2nd grade). This book not only was a form of mystery, but also could be used in a math lesson. This book taught many different things like looking for clues, rhyming, math, forgiveness, second chances, and making things right after making a mistake. I think there are many lessons and activities this book can be used for, even in little recess arguments that (little) children have. 
I loved the illustrations in this book. All of the Pete the Cat books are always so bright and colorful and the silly expressions and things that Pete has and does, keeps the reader wanting to read more to find out what happens. I really enjoy the all of these books and plan on having a collection in my classroom.   

References - 

• Pete The Cat and the Missing Cupcakes Children's Read Aloud Story Book For Kids By James Dean. Kids Stories 4 You. (October 16,2016). Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d74tIWKn1Vk