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Little Critter
Just A School Project
Little Critter has chosen the best topic ever for his science project--caterpillars! Did you know that a caterpillar starts out its life as an egg? Or that a caterpillar eats leaves and flowers all day and all night? Join Little Critter as he plans, researches, and creates his project, all in time for this year's big science fair.
24 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2004
5 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Mercer Mayer
774 books791 followersMercer Mayer is an American children's author and illustrator. He has published over 300 books, using a wide range of illustrative styles. Mayer is best known for his Little Critter and Little Monster series of books.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
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February 14, 2021Text-to Teaching Connection
Just A School Project is a book that introduces the ideas of science fair projects for younger students. After reading the book aloud as a class I will ask the students questions about the reading such as, why do you think Little Critter’s first ideas didn’t work? What steps did he have to take to complete his project? Do you think he knew they would turn into butterflies? Why or why not? After discussing the book with the class we will go outside and count how many butteflies you can find or see. Butterflies are best found during warmer months on low lying flowering bushes and plants. We will then come back into the classroom and have students draw a butterfly on a piece of paper and make it colorful.
Just A School Project is a book that introduces the ideas of science fair projects for younger students. After reading the book aloud as a class I will ask the students questions about the reading such as, why do you think Little Critter’s first ideas didn’t work? What steps did he have to take to complete his project? Do you think he knew they would turn into butterflies? Why or why not? After discussing the book with the class we will go outside and count how many butteflies you can find or see. Butterflies are best found during warmer months on low lying flowering bushes and plants. We will then come back into the classroom and have students draw a butterfly on a piece of paper and make it colorful.
December 31, 2017
I found this Happy Meal book on the kitchen table today (which means my four-year-old probably guilted my wife into a trip to McDonald's yesterday) and read it to my one-year-old.
Spoiler below, I guess.
At one point, there's a scene where the kid decides his school project will be to launch a wheelbarrow (with him inside) to the moon. The father patiently waits in the dark until the kid eventually realizes that taping a flag to a wheelbarrow make it fly.
At first, I didn't like this, as it seemed a transparent effort to make an adult reader chuckle, while also demanding that you not judge the father for letting his kid put so much effort into a project that couldn't possibly work.
Then I thought, who am to judge? Maybe letting his kid deal with disappointment is a much better lesson that some science project? Maybe I'm just being cranky because I wouldn't want to go stand out in the cold while my kid follows through on his stupid idea? Is the weird pudgy monster a better father than me?
The point is, a Happy Meal I didn't even eat gave me a minor existential crisis. Being a parent is complicated.
my favorite quote: "Did you know that a caterpillar gets bigger by splitting its skin down the back and crawling out in a new skin?"
Spoiler below, I guess.
At one point, there's a scene where the kid decides his school project will be to launch a wheelbarrow (with him inside) to the moon. The father patiently waits in the dark until the kid eventually realizes that taping a flag to a wheelbarrow make it fly.
At first, I didn't like this, as it seemed a transparent effort to make an adult reader chuckle, while also demanding that you not judge the father for letting his kid put so much effort into a project that couldn't possibly work.
Then I thought, who am to judge? Maybe letting his kid deal with disappointment is a much better lesson that some science project? Maybe I'm just being cranky because I wouldn't want to go stand out in the cold while my kid follows through on his stupid idea? Is the weird pudgy monster a better father than me?
The point is, a Happy Meal I didn't even eat gave me a minor existential crisis. Being a parent is complicated.
my favorite quote: "Did you know that a caterpillar gets bigger by splitting its skin down the back and crawling out in a new skin?"
October 5, 2017
Just a School Project was one of the most boring Little Critter books out there. Practically nothing happens in this story. This book also tries to make a little kid making a huge mess funny and kids might try to copy the Little Critter because it is said that it was the best project ever at the end. Speaking of the end the butterflies came flying out which should not have happened because the caterpillars would still be in their cocoons or at the very least unable to fly due to being too wet and they would need to sit there and dry off. I loved the other Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer, but this one just is not as good.
June 29, 2020
This is a cute story to introduce the ideas of science fair projects and even the scientific method. Little Critter is assigned a project for the school science fair. He has trouble deciding on a project, has failures, uses different methods to find project ideas and information, and then works to create and present a project. It would be nice to read in class when explaining the concept of a science fair for the first time.
September 1, 2022
The nature lover in me cringes at the idea that all the caterpillars had the right food sources and the environment they needed to turn into butterflies. Also, do you know how much one caterpillar in a box poops???
It's fun, but not that educational about what caterpillars actually need in their life cycle, or anything like that lol
It's fun, but not that educational about what caterpillars actually need in their life cycle, or anything like that lol
November 8, 2022
Read this in a Dr’s office while waiting for an hour… Anywho, it was short and sweet. I liked the details in the illustrations. It was almost more a book about caterpillars, though? Still, it was cute and went through all the stages of a school project (choosing, creative, research, presentation, etc).
July 30, 2023
This is a very short and simple story about a special school project, essentially like elementary school's science fair. In all of the attempts to find the perfect project and put the presentation together, there was one thing missed until the end - caterpillars don't stay caterpillars forever. They become beautiful butterflies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2017
A cute little book! Happy surprise ending and hidden pictures to find at the end. delightful!
October 26, 2017
Just something my niece had laying around. I forgot how much I enjoyed these as a kid.
July 30, 2018
Another interesting tale of Little Creature. Caterpillars to butterflies. How wonderful.
April 13, 2025
Liked reading and looking for different critters. Short enough that it kept her attention span. Not as exciting as the dentist book-mainly because she doesn't have schema for school/projects yet.
June 17, 2019
A cute story about how Little Critter decides on a science project, and the end result. Mercer Mayer has the best illustrations
August 5, 2016
It was butterflies. There were catapillars and I love catapillars.
March 13, 2021
This is a cool book that is the best book of my life and thank you so much!
August 7, 2023
This was a good night before the first day of school read.
2023 - The kids enjoyed these, particularly the humour. And they’ve aged well.
2023 - The kids enjoyed these, particularly the humour. And they’ve aged well.
September 18, 2017
I love these books.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews