Tag: pete the cat

“Beat the Street for Little Feet” Returns for 10th Year This Saturday

Decatur’s most famous resident – to the young at heart, at least – Pete the Cat is returning to his hometown to support one of the annual events closest to his heart – “Beat the Street for Little Feet”!  Here’s the official release…

Lace up your running shoes! It’s time for the most family-friendly 5K in all of Decatur! On April 29, Beat the Street for Little Feet, hosted by the Oakhurst Cooperative Preschool and proudly presented by Stivers Subaru, will celebrate 10 years of family fun, running and original art by New York Times bestselling author James Dean, creator of Pete the Cat.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS:
> 5K run/walk course with a popular stroller division
> One-mile fun run
> Tot trot (so even the littlest runners can participate)
> Family-friendly activities (games, music, dancing)
> Arts and crafts sponsored by Treehouse Kid + Craft
> Delicious treats from local favorites (including Revolution Doughnuts and the new Banjo Coffee).
> Custom Pete the Cat T-shirt drawn by James Dean to celebrate the 10th anniversary
> One of seven local races in the City of Decatur’s Grand Prix Series. Participants who complete four of the races will receive a special T-shirt and medal at a Team Decatur event in January 2018.

RACE DAY TIMELINE:
7:00 am: Packet Pick up
8:00 am: 5K
9:00 am: 1 mile race
9:15 am: Tot Trot
9:30 am: Awards

Register at www.ocprace.com (discounted early bird registration is on now until April 21)
AND keep an eye out for the life-size Pete the Cat who will be visiting Decatur landmarks in the coming weeks, offering you many opportunities to sign up and run!

Atlanta Magazine Considers the Past and Future of Pete the Cat

In its September issue, Atlanta Magazine goes deep into the success story of Pete the Cat and considers the franchise and authors’ future.  Here’s the first paragraph to get you started…

It’s the first day of daycare and my two-year-old daughter, Lola, is getting nervous in the backseat. “Why you’ll have to leave, Daddy?” she asks. At an intersection, we stop behind a Honda minivan. On its rear window, Lola spots a reassuring sticker. “Look—it’s Pete the Cat!” In Lola’s pantheon of children’s book characters, Pete is second only to Disney princesses. She sleeps near a stack of Pete books and a worn Pete doll. From my perspective, the unflappable feline is a positive influence—and compared to those formulaictales about Disney royalty, Pete books might as well be Rolling Stone.
As many of you know, Pete grew up in Decatur has long been a topic of conversation around here.  From being featured on countless local posters to being mourned after disappearing from a transformer next to Yogurt Tap, Pete has a proud following here.
Book cover courtesy of HarperCollins

Pete the Cat Enjoys Steinbeck on New DeKalb Library Card

From the DeKalb Public Library website…

You can be one of the first to have your own collector series, limited-edition Pete the Cat library card for a $20.00 donation to the DeKalb Library Foundation. Stop by when the Library launches its Pete the Cat Card on Saturday, September 1 in the lobby of the Decatur Library, 10:00 a.m. to Noon. Have your photo taken with Pete the Cat creator James Dean, have him sign your card and show your support for the Library. Even if you can’t attend this special event, you can still get the special card at any DeKalb County Public Library branch beginning September 1. For more information, visit the Library Foundation page or call 404.370.8450, ext. 2238.

Decatur Book Festival Attendence Up, Publishers Weekly Impressed

From a post on Publisher’s Weekly’s website titled “An Insane Decatur Book Festival”…

From the sold-out keynote address to the “insane” crowd at Sunday morning’s Pete the Cat parade, the sixth annual Decatur Book Festival was another success for organizers, attendees, and the city of Decatur. Cofounder and executive director Daren Wang estimates that attendance was up between 10% to 15% this year, and that the turnout for the parade Sunday morning easily doubled, and perhaps tripled, their highest parade numbers: “The Judy Schachner parade [on Saturday morning] was really wonderful – probably 400 to 500 kids took part. But Pete the Cat was insane! I stood on the corner and watched it go by, it was 10 or 15 minutes of just kids. I knew [Pete the Cat illustrator] James Dean and [author] Eric Litwin were hometown favorites, but I had no idea it was going to be like that.”

More at the link above.  The real question is: where will we build the Pete the Cat theme park??  It’s not in the Strategic Plan!!

Pete the Cat Kicks It to #2 on New York Times Bestseller List

Dave at Little Shop of Stories pointed this out to me yesterday. And in fact, he beat me to the post today.

Eric Litwin and James Dean’s second installment their Pete the Cat children’s books, “Pete the Cat: Rocking My School Shoes” is already #2 on the New York Times Children’s Book Best Seller List, just a couple weeks after its release!

Looks like Decatur’s unofficial mascot is quickly becoming a household name.  The Decatur Tourism Bureau needs to find some sort of angle.  A Pete the Cat Musuem or roller coaster perhaps?

As Dave points out on the Little Shop blog, Eric and James will be the Grand Marshalls at the AJC Book Festival parade on Sunday, September 4th.

Pete the Cat Goes Missing

Kris writes in…

Oh no! Pete the Cat is missing. My son and I were enjoying some Yogurt Tap yogurt and we noticed . . . Pete is gone!  Please contact the Chief of Police and the Mayor – we HAVE to find him! Put out an APB!

I can already hear Daren’s mind cranking.  “For the Book Festival, we ask James Dean to paint green boxes one at a time all over the city…”

Decatur Arts Festival Poster Unveiling This Afternoon (Sans James Dean)

This just in from the city’s Cheryl Burnette…

Unfortunately, James Dean has a family emergency and won’t be at the Decatur Arts Festival poster unveiling tonight. We still want folks to come and they will get either a free poster, or they can pick up a coupon to redeem at the festival and have James sign it there. I am also making a big card for folks to sign so we can give it to him.

View a revised poster with all the pertinant (where, when, free drink info, etc) after the jump. Continue reading “Decatur Arts Festival Poster Unveiling This Afternoon (Sans James Dean)”