Ryers Readers - Pete The Cat: The Cool Caterpillar

Episode Date: March 15, 2022

Pete finds a new friend during a bug safari! But one morning, his new friend disappeared! Where did he go?!

Let's do this. Today we're going to read Pete the Cat and the Cool Caterpillar by James Dean. Pete is on a bug safari. He and his friends are looking for bugs. How many bugs can they find? Callie spots a tiny black ant. It's building an ant hill, she says. Groovy, says Pete. Gus finds a round red ladybug in the middle. patch. It has nine spots, says Gus. Nice, says Pete. Marty sees a big black spider. It caught a fly, he says. Neat, says Pete. Pete finds a green caterpillar in the flower pot. I will bring it home to show mom and dad, he says. Mom helps Pete build a home for the caterpillar. They use a big jar and dad puts lots of little holes in the lid for air. Pete puts the caterpillar in the jar. Pete puts some leaves in the jar for the caterpillar to eat and he adds a twig for it to crawl on.

Good night Pete says mom. Good night Pete says dad. Good night caterpillar says Pete. When Pete wakes up, the caterpillar is gone. Where did it go? Did it run away? It is not gone, says mom. It did not run away, says dad. Look, they say. The caterpillar is inside there, says mom. It's called a pupa. Will it stay in there forever? Pete asks. No, says dad. The caterpillar is changing into something new. What will it be called? Pete asks. It's a surprise, says Mom. We must wait and see. Pete waits. Callie comes to visit. Did it come out yet? She asks. Not yet, says Pete. Pete waits some more. Gus comes to visit. Did it come out yet? He asks. Not yet, says Pete. Pete waits even longer. Marty comes to visit. Did it come out yet? He asks. Not yet, says Pete. Pete waits and waits and waits. Then one day something finally happens. The pupa starts to wiggle. Something is happening, says Pete. It wiggles some more. Everyone comes over to watch. The pupa cracks open.

Something is coming out. What could it be? A head pokes out, then some legs, then two colorful wings. The caterpillar changed into a beautiful butterfly. Wow, says Pete. The butterfly slowly moves its wings up and down. It is ready to fly. They take the jar to the park.

Time to say goodbye, says Dad. Pete opens the lid of the jar. The butterfly flaps its wings. It flutters out of the jar and lands on Pete's nose. That tickles, he says. Then the butterfly flies up into the sky. Bye bye butterfly, everyone says. Let's find a new caterpillar, says Pete.

Change is pretty cool. The end. I hope you enjoyed that story. I wonder what we're going to read next.