Story:

This book is written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean. Pete the Cat has four bright buttons on his shirt. As he goes about his day, one button falls off at a time. With each missing button, Pete simply keeps going, using a bit of subtraction and a lot of positive attitude. Even when he loses all his buttons and is left with just his belly button, Pete stays happy and groovy!

Click here to explore this storybook.

The Maths Behind the Story:

The story is a fantastic, child-friendly introduction to early maths concepts – especially number sense and subitising. Subitising is the ability to recognise how many items are in a group without counting one by one. In Pete’s story, children can visually see the number of buttons – 1,2,3 or 4 – on his shirt and begin to instinctively understand quantities. As the numbers of buttons changes, children learn to identify groups quickly, helping them build strong foundational maths skills. And when there are too many to subitise, children can learn to group smaller sets, subitise those, and add them together to find the total.

Seeing Numbers in New Ways:

Pete’s story also introduces the idea that numbers can be made up of smaller parts. For example, the number 4 can be:

• 3 and 1
• 2 and 2
• 1 and 3
• 0 and 4

This helps children develop part-whole understanding, a key concept in early maths. It supports the connection between addition and subtraction naturally, without relying on abstract symbols too early.

Extension:

To make the story even more engaging, you can introduce a new character. For example, Millie the Moose who goes on a mission to find the buttons that Pete has lost. This opens up opportunities for playful learning. You can ask questions like, “If Millie has found three buttons, how many does Pete have left?”. Millie encourages children to visualise missing parts, reinforce number bonds, and build mental maths skills – all through fun and imagination!

What to Avoid:

When sharing this story, avoid focusing too much on the subtraction signs or equations in the book. At this stage, many young children are not ready for formal symbols and might misunderstand. Instead, focus on the ideas of numbers changing and regrouping. The answer to, “How many buttons are left?”, doesn’t have to involve subtraction, and children may not interpret it that way. For example, when ‘one of the buttons popped off and rolled away’, the child might simply recognise that three buttons are left because a group of 3 and 1 makes 4. Thinking this way helps children understand the connection between addition and subtraction. In this respect, Millie the Moose can be a very helpful character! Avoid overusing the equals sign early on. It’s a tricky concept, and children might become confused if only used as a symbol meaning ‘the answer comes next’.