85 Books Like Pete The Cat And The Missing Cupcakes

This book is simple and captivating.

It’s no wonder it's a classic and enjoyed over and over again by families all over the world. There are so many ways to use this book in the kitchen with kids, but my favorite way is to use it to learn about fruit.

I used to read this book to my children and students and then review the many types of fruit in the story. Afterwards, it was fun to make a rainbow fruit salad and munch away just like the hungry caterpillar! It is also helpful for identifying and discussing the differences between healthy vs. unhealthy foods.

The book also includes: early learning for babies and toddlers of first food recognition, especially fruits; learn days of the week, numbers 1-5, and primary colors; review beginning, middle, and end of a story arc; and scientific process of metamorphosis. 

In this perfect pairing of words and pictures, readers count along as instruments are added one by one, with musicians going from solo to duo to trio until a chamber group of ten is formed.

The language flows musically, "Gliding, sliding, high notes go low." 

The images soar and delight with detail. The book ends with calls for an encore and children are bound to ask for encore readings.

This book, one of four in Maurice Sendak's Nutshell Library begins, "1 was Johnny who lived by himself." 

Wait till you see who joins him and the chaos that ensues! Children get to count from 1 to 10 and, when Johnny figures out how to get rid of the crowd, readers get to count back from 10 to 1.

The rhyme flows along merrily, the illustrations are Sendak-irresistible, and readers of any age can relate to Johnny valuing his "me" time. 

At the start of this book, readers are asked to count one apple. Easy right? 

Next, one elephant. Again, easy. From there, it becomes tricky...and so much fun! 

There are two whales on a spread, but readers are still asked to count to one . One what? One sausage being blown out of a whale's spout. 

On we go, from soup to nuts. Well, there are no nuts, but there's a hot dog, and ducks and worms, a dinosaur, and more.  Throughout, readers are reminded to count to one. That's the rule. 

The one problem is that kids may be giggling too much to remember to stick to the rule.  It's a great concept, energetically told and brightly, humorously illustrated. 

This is one counting book you won't want to miss.

Catwad is a book by the hilarious Jim Benton, the comic style of Catwad is silly and at times, outrageous which is just what you need to keep kids interested.

The comic is broken down into short and sweet chapters that are only a few pages long which is great for those that have trouble focusing for long periods of time. Benton’s character expressions are so animated and funny, kids can pick up what is going on even before they read the words.

This is an adorable book about a predator-prey pair. Tradition says felines devour birds, so when Cat says he must eat Bird, the feathered fowl tempts Cat’s taste in other ways … by showing him “the highest tree for a cat to get stuck in,” for example. When Cat points out desirable activities for Bird, the two decide to become friends, until they realize they share nothing in common.

I love the humorous banter between the two and the clever use of different text colors to distinguish between the two speakers. I think it’s brilliantly symbolic that when the characters concentrate on differences, the illustrations are in black and white, but once they accidentally discover a shared interest, the pages are splashed with joyful colors.

Kids love cats and Lois is a wide-eyed black and white cat who is looking for her yellow bird friend, Bob.

In this museum location, Lois looks behind such things as a painting and a vase that are at the museum. She finds other animals but not Bob. Until the end of course! The colors are bright and in large blocks which 0-3 year olds will gravitate to.

This is one in series of Lois Looks for Bob books. Other topics include beach, home, and park. 

The Gift of Nothing, written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell, happens to be one of my absolute favorite books. Nestled like a rare bird in between Captain Underpants and Star Wars at a book sale in an elementary school cafeteria, I made a gift of it to my wife, Seana, and in time the story of Mooch and Earl grew into a cherished part of ours as well.

Mooch (a cat) is looking for the perfect gift for her best friend, Earl (a pooch). She wonders, What do you get someone who has everything? It dawns on her. Nothing! So, after looking everywhere for nothing and not finding it, she finally gets a really big empty box (because it was a lot of nothing). When Earl opens it, he declares, “There’s nothing here!” “Yesh!” says Mooch. “Nothing ... but me and you!”

Everyone I love who’s seen my shelf knows how much I love this picture book. I adore the simple ink drawings; it’s all I need to understand to story.

I never expected a 32-page book to break me like this. It makes me want to hug my cat Marlie and never let go (to her annoyance). To me, it explained life and death so perfectly—when one goes away, another comes into our lives.

This book is amazing. It’s about a kid named Jackson whose parents are having trouble making ends meet. It looks like they’re going to be homeless... again. But that’s when Crenshaw, Jackson’s old imaginary friend shows up. I love how Katherine Applegate shows Jackson’s fears and hopes. I grew up pretty poor, and so I know that she does a great job with this tough situation. Yet, despite the hardships, Applegate fills this book with fun, like when Crenshaw, a giant imaginary cat, takes a bubble bath.