Groovy Joe by The One & Only Eric Litwin

My phone rang last week and on the other line was the one and only ERIC LITWIN!!!! You might be thinking you don’t know him, but here are 3 words to help: PETE THE CAT!!!!

Eric is the author of the first 4 Pete the Cat books and a #1 New York Times Best Selling Author! To say I was geeking out when talking to him is a huge understatement!! Not only is he a HUGE deal, but he is such a down to earth and incredibly nice guy!

I learned through Eric’s books and from talking with him that he has a Multi-Learning Approach where he loves to bring early literacy and music together. You can literally feel his excitement and passion about early literacy and music through the phone!

Eric’s ‘Pete the Cat’ and ‘The Nuts’ Series are in most of our classrooms! There may even be multiple copies of his books in our classrooms because I know my students just can’t get enough! He makes reading and literacy so much fun! His writing has also given my students confidence, independence, and a love for reading with his contagiously fun and adorable books!

Some EXCITING NEWS… Eric has a NEW book coming out this week and I must say it is AMAZING!! I can’t get my hands on it fast enough to bring into my classroom! If you loved Pete the Cat, just wait until you meet Groovy Joe!!

Groovy Joe is Eric’s newest book series and he is pretty groovy!!

Who is Groovy Joe? He is a guitar strumming, song singing, ice cream eating, and disco dancing type of dog. Groovy Joe teaches some wonderful lessons and sees the positive in every situation.

I got to listen to the story and fell in love with the song that Eric has created and the message that the story has! The words in the story and the song are very catchy, repetitive, and they rhyme. All of the elements that not only help students read, but also gets them excited about reading! I know I will be reading this over and over in my classroom and I absolutely can’t wait!!

To help celebrate the new book, Eric and his team are having a Groovy Joe Drawing Contest! The Grand Prize winner will receive a classroom visit from Eric Litwin!! He is also having 10 runners-up who will receive a listening library for school AND for home!

**How to Enter**

To enter this contest, draw a picture of your favorite animal singing a song. This contest sounds like a perfect follow up activity to do with your students after reading “Groovy Joe Ice Cream & Dinosaurs”!

(Click on the picture above to enlarge it and get the details of where to send your entry and what to include!)

After talking with Eric on the phone, I listened to the Groovy Joe song and story again and can’t wait for my book to get here to share with my students. Pete the Cat was already a class favorite year after year and I think Groovy Joe may just give Pete a run for his money!! There is definitely more than enough room to LOVE both and I can’t wait to bring the story into my classroom.

Groovy Joe comes out this week and you can get the book for your classroom HERE.

While I eagerly wait for the book to arrive in the mail, I have been listening to the story and song. You can too! Check it out HERE (Groovy Joe Scholastic site) OR HERE (YouTube)

Make sure to check out my Facebook page in the next week or two because you’ll have a chance to win Eric’s new book Groovy Joe!!

AND…as Eric would say, “Be Well, Friends.”

Have a wonderful week everyone!