LIFE OF A READER
Band-Aids on the Soles of My Shoes
by Judy Newman with Alana Pedalino
My son, John, who is very busy with his job as a talent agent at Creative Artists Agency, is also a great gift giver. No matter how many calls he has to roll, or how many theater openings or Hollywood events he has to attend, he never forgets my birthday—or anyone else’s in our family. Plus he always comes up with creative and thoughtful gifts for the holidays. This year, John got me Bass Weejuns—black patent leather loafers. He says my recent return to school inspired the collegiate look.
Supply chain and transportation issues conspired to create some December delivery delays, and the box of Bass Weejuns just arrived—a little late for the holidays but just in time for me to wear them into the office today. We have a lot going on at Scholastic this week, including a dinner hosted by our new CEO, Peter Warwick, for the management team and the Board of Directors at Clifford’s, our beautiful in-house eatery on the 11th floor of the Scholastic building in SoHo.
My new Bass Weejuns are the perfect day-to-night footwear to walk me through all these events.
But when I put these brand-new loafers on this morning, they were very … slippery. Since I will be running around from place to place, I really do not want to risk slipping down the carpeted steps at Scholastic; or making an unexpected glissade in the middle of our photo shoot; or sliding around when I am talking with my Scholastic colleagues at one of our first in-person events since March 2020. As often seems to happen these days, a long-ago memory came to the rescue. I remembered that my mom used to put Band-Aids on the bottom of our new shoes to prevent us from slipping.
So I found some Band-Aids in the cabinet, put them on the bottoms of my brand-new Bass Weejuns—and after a few practice runs up and down the stairs getting ready to go to the city, I am pretty confident the Band-Aids will work perfectly to keep me from slipping. I feel secure enough to walk—or even trot, if required—without breaking my neck. I just have to remember not to cross my legs in a way that people can see the bottoms of my new shoes.
All this thinking about new shoes is a natural lead-in to the Scholastic Book Clubs Book of the Week: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.
Pete the Cat is by now an iconic character in children’s picture books. He plays guitar while rockin’ in his school shoes; he walks along singing his song in his white shoes. And many of Pete’s adventures lend themselves to being sung aloud by students, teachers, and parents worldwide (and all over the World Wide Web). In this first story in the series, Pete is introduced to readers as an unshakable blue cat who absolutely loves his white shoes—so much that he sings about it. But then during his stroll, he accidentally steps in a huge mound of strawberries, turning his shoes red.
But this does not faze Pete. He keeps going, only changing his tune to sing about how much he loves his red shoes. Pete’s adaptiveness and ability to turn a negative into a positive are qualities all of us need for success. Everyone on the Scholastic team aspires to model that attitude and create opportunities for a Pete the Cat style of positivity and flexibility to support the teachers, students, and caregivers we work with every day.
I hope that you are inspired to sing along with Pete the Cat, and that he encourages you to find new ways to be optimistic in your own lives. And to keep your head held high, walking along, singing your own song—no matter how many strawberries and blueberries you step into.
And don’t forget to put those Band-Aids on the soles of your shoes if you’re worried about slipping!
Please share any thoughts you have about Pete the Cat, reading in general, or memories from your childhood. Or you can share your own anti-slipping shoe techniques with me at judy.newman@scholastic.com. I’m sure there are other ways besides my tried-and-true Band-Aid method.
Happy reading!
XX,
Judy
Judy Newman is President and Reader-in-Chief of Scholastic Book Clubs. For more information, visit judynewmanatscholastic.com.