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Pete the Cat
Pete the Cat's Cool New Ride: A STEM Picture Book About Friendship and Counting for Children
Ride along with Pete and his friends in this STEAM-themed picture book from the #1 New York Times bestselling classic series, Pete the Cat!
“UGH! It's snug in the bug!”
Pete the Cat just got some new wheels. Beep, beep! And as he's grooving down the street, he bumps into 1 friend, 2 friends, 3!
When they pile up in the car, Pete can't keep count and wonders if there is room for everyone.
In his fifteenth hardcover picture book, Pete the Cat learns that there's always room for friends.
“UGH! It's snug in the bug!”
Pete the Cat just got some new wheels. Beep, beep! And as he's grooving down the street, he bumps into 1 friend, 2 friends, 3!
When they pile up in the car, Pete can't keep count and wonders if there is room for everyone.
In his fifteenth hardcover picture book, Pete the Cat learns that there's always room for friends.
40 pages, Hardcover
Published September 2, 2025
22 people want to read
About the author
James Dean
232 books260 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 20, 2025
A very sweet story, filled with rhymes and numbers, with an important lesson in helping out friends and putting other's needs before your own. The narrator, James Fouhey did a fantastic job in making this a fun listen.
February 10, 2026
Spoiler alert!!!
He buys a bus, that’s big enough for all of us!!!!!!!!
He buys a bus, that’s big enough for all of us!!!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2026
We found this at our library as a new book and I might have to purchase it! We've read it 10 times since last week. Our 3 year old is obsessed. He loves that we work on counting, adding numbers together, and that it has silly and consistent phrases like "beep, beep, beep!" and "Hop in!" which allows for a predictable call and response activity.
If your kiddo loves Pete the Cat - I Love My White Shoes, they will love this book!
If your kiddo loves Pete the Cat - I Love My White Shoes, they will love this book!
June 11, 2025
I received an electronic ARC from Harper Collins through Edelweiss+.
Pete is back and has a brand new car. He happily stops to pick up all of his friends as he drives through town but discovers the car is just too small to hold everyone. He makes the decision to exchange it for a bigger vehicle and everyone sets off together. I appreciate that every friend has a seatbelt on as they get in the car with Pete. A fun addition to this set of books. Hard to believe it's the fifteenth one! Younger readers will love this addition to Pete's world.
Pete is back and has a brand new car. He happily stops to pick up all of his friends as he drives through town but discovers the car is just too small to hold everyone. He makes the decision to exchange it for a bigger vehicle and everyone sets off together. I appreciate that every friend has a seatbelt on as they get in the car with Pete. A fun addition to this set of books. Hard to believe it's the fifteenth one! Younger readers will love this addition to Pete's world.
September 9, 2025
This may just be my favourite Pete the Cat book yet!!!
The characters and illustrations are exactly what we love about Pete the Cat books, and we’ve got all our favourites here in this one.
I LOVE the sing-song, repetitive, rhyming style of this story. Especially great for younger readers, it instantly pulls them in and they can get right into the pattern of the story. Then add in some MATH, and you’ve got some great counting fun! Finally, let’s talk all about welcoming others, being a great friend, and making room for all.
LOVE LOVE LOVE.
The characters and illustrations are exactly what we love about Pete the Cat books, and we’ve got all our favourites here in this one.
I LOVE the sing-song, repetitive, rhyming style of this story. Especially great for younger readers, it instantly pulls them in and they can get right into the pattern of the story. Then add in some MATH, and you’ve got some great counting fun! Finally, let’s talk all about welcoming others, being a great friend, and making room for all.
LOVE LOVE LOVE.
September 18, 2025
In this new Pete the Cat offering from Kimberly and James Dean, Pete has a car and invites many many friends to join him. Eventually the car becomes overly full and Pete realizes he needs a much bigger vehicle. So he trades the car in for a bus and everybody fits. Math concepts such as counting and addition are included.
Children never turn their noses up to a new Pete book. However, after the initial four written by Dean Litwin, all subsequent Pete books have left much to be desired.
Children never turn their noses up to a new Pete book. However, after the initial four written by Dean Litwin, all subsequent Pete books have left much to be desired.
October 11, 2025
Another upbeat and vibrant Pete the Cat story which has Pete driving around in his cool new car and picking up friends along the way. there's not much of a story here, but it's a fun way to introduce concepts of counting and simple addition. I really liked the last page with the coolest car of all.
January 13, 2026
3.5. Stars! Cute but nothing super super special. Storyline is good but not overly creative - love the math and counting and all the friends. My 4 year old said they have this at school so he had read it before and seems to like it
February 26, 2026
“What I liked about it was that Pete is cute. It was cool that Pete was nice and even though he just got a brand new car then he got a bus so all his friends could be excited and ride in there too.” - Lucas
March 31, 2026
I loved this book, I grew up reading Pete the cat and I am enjoying that fact that I am able to share these stories with my students now. This story also has simple counting and addition problems within the text.
September 4, 2025
Pete, that is entirely too many passengers.
No way that amount of seatbelts came with that car.
No way that amount of seatbelts came with that car.
September 19, 2025
Pete really is the coolest cat.
September 23, 2025
fine. a little long for a raucous group, but good counting and identifying friends and beep-beep-beeping.
October 16, 2025
Always a good choice with Pete. This book involves counting.
October 25, 2025
I thought this book was cute! It had a lot of rhyming in it and repetitive words that makes it easy to have a child engage with the story while reading aloud.
November 17, 2025
Fun story about friends and cool rides!
December 19, 2025
I like the counting and the repeating that Pete the cat books are known for. But this was a fun story- just a little worried that Callie isn’t going to make it to dance class on time!
January 15, 2026
Another fun Pete the Cat book. There's counting involved in this one, which is always a plus. Good for a storytime or one-on-one for ages 2 1/2 +
January 20, 2026
Pete is such a cool cat! He trades in his new ride for a groovy bus (which is super cute by the way) to fit all his friends!
January 25, 2026
Nótese como apenas ya no podían usar cinturón, todos se preocuparon, bien hecho
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews