Strike Up The Band! Pete The Cat: The Petes Go Marching by James Dean

THE PETES GO MARCHING ONE BY ONE.

THE GROOVY ONE STOPS TO GET SOME SUN.

AND THEY ALL GO MARCHING DOWN TO TOWN.

It's time for a high-stepping band of brothers, The Petes, to strike up their own musical band. Pete himself, walkin' in his red shoes, brings his guitar, and as he marches, he picks up more and more Petes, one with a drum, one with a tambourine. A quick stop at the music shop adds to the Petes in the band, and even the falling raindrops do not deter the parading Petes.

THE PETES GO MARCHING SIX BY SIX.THE GROOVY ONE STOPS TO PICK UP STICKS!

(Drumsticks, that is!)

Adding Petes and new instruments until there are ten along the way, the marching Petes board the Tour Bus and arrive at the venue with a big sign,

CONCERT TONIGHT!
PETE THE CAT AND HIS BAND!

Pete and his bandmates march downtown and rock out in the rain at the bandstand, in James Dean's reworking of the old nursery song, "The Ants Go Marching," in Pete the Cat: The Petes Go Marching (Harper, 2018).  There are plenty of Pete repeats in illustration and text, replete with different colors of sneakers, for all the young Pete fans to practice their counting (and multiplication!) in this latest in the author-illustrator Dean's long series for the preschool and primary set, which combines rhythm, rhyme, reading, and 'rithmetic in a jolly singalong.