Just Big Enough

July 1, 2004
Little Critter finds out he is Just Big Enough in Mercer Mayer's latest. When the big kids won't let him play football and they take all the cupcakes, Little Critter tries vegetables, exercise and even a growing machine to spur his growth-before he learns that bigger isn't always better. .

July 1, 2004
PreS-Gr 1-When big kids start to bully Little Critter and make his life miserable, he decides that the only solution is to get taller. In an attempt to speed up the process, he crams down veggies, exercises to exhaustion, and finally builds himself a "growing machine" to sit in. When his height remains unchanged, he takes his troubles to his grandpa, who shows him that biggest isn't always best. In the disappointing ending, Little Critter challenges the big kids to a relay race that he and his smaller friends illogically win. Colorful cartoons depict the fuzzy brown protagonist along with all of the other animal characters. While fans of the series may not mind the pat ending, readers looking for tales with a little more panache should stick with Helen Lester's Hooway for Wodney Wat (Houghton, 1999), Alexis O'Neil's Recess Queen (Scholastic, 2002), or Pat Hutchins's classic, Titch (Turtleback, 1971).-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2005
Little Critter tries hard to grow quickly, but nothing happens. After Grandpa demonstrates that a little horse can sometimes outrun a big one, Little Critter challenges the big kids to a relay race, with satisfying results that may nevertheless strain credibility. The illustrations, peopled with Mayer's familiar stocky animals, help deliver the lesson amiably: "Sometimes being small is just big enough."

(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)