Pistes d'exploration

Practise writing colour words. Draw or colour a shoe and write, “I love my ______ shoes.” Focus on the execution of writing a sentence, leaving spaces between words, starting with a capital and ending with a period.

Colour me . . . happy/sad/frustrated, etc.: On a sheet of paper, add a heading such as “(Yellow) makes me feel (happy!)” Add (yellow) magazine pictures to create a poster.

Discuss the rhythm/pattern of the text and how certain sentences are repeated throughout the book. Count how many times Pete sings his song. Notice how many times he repeats the same colour word within each song.

Brainstorm other words that mean good, nice, etc. (see the speech bubbles). Use these new words in your writing.

Identify the foods that Pete steps in, and the colour each turns his shoes. What happens to Pete’s shoes at the end? What is the moral of the story? 

Create a list of other foods and objects for each colour presented in the story. 

Create a word wall with vocabulary from the book. Organize the words into categories.

Add a page to the story. What colour and food will you choose?

Sing the song using appropriate gestures.

How to Talk to Your Cat

Mots-clés

Picture book , Songs , cats , changes , colours , optimism , stories in rhyme

Commentaire descriptif

This story about colours and emotional resilience offers catchy repetitions that are wonderful for reading aloud. Beginner readers will appreciate the expressive use of colour and size variation in the type. When Pete’s white shoes are stained in a field of strawberries, “Did Pete cry? Goodness no! He kept walking along and singing his song. I love my red shoes, I love my red shoes . . . .” The illustrations are a gorgeous mash of scratchy line and painterly colour blocks. In one spread, Pete stands on a mound of roughly-etched blueberries; flat planes of grass and sky support the yellow disc of sun. Each colour is featured in its own spread with the deadpan Pete and his upbeat thought bubbles: “Everything is cool”, “Awesome”, “Groovy”. Celebrating change is a useful message for readers of any age. Little ones will especially love this rhythmic presentation. As Pete sings, children may be encouraged to do the same. Finally, when Pete walks through water, his shoes go back to being white: “I love my wet shoes, I love my wet shoes…”