Just Big Enough

Little Critter

by Mercer Mayer

Little Just Big Enough , written and illustrated in full color by bestselling author Mercer Mayer, offers a gentle but important lesson about bullying.
 
In this 8x8 paperback, Little Critter is being bullied. Bigger kids steal his seat on the bus, eat his cupcakes, and won’t let him play football with them.
 
Little Critter decides he has to get bigger, too. So he stuffs himself with vegetables, exercises until he’s exhausted, and turns himself a growing machine. He’s so disappointed when his hard work fails…
 
But his grandfather helps him see that bigger isn’t always better. With this encouragement, Little Critter leads a team of smaller kids in a relay race against the big kids. And the little kids win!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Kids

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Mercer 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.

Reviews

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kiddo's library pick. Not as strong as some other Mayer books but gave us a great opportunity to talk about the lessons it teaches.

[Bronwyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute enough for a newer Little Critter book.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Critter has to deal with a big kid bully in this tale. As usual in Mayer's work, the pictures are filled with lots of interesting details. This story had a definite didactic purpose, though, as opposed to just being a fun tale. Little Critter learns how to stand up for himself and realize he's big enough to do whatever he really wants to do. A good story, but not as much "fun" for my little guy. It'd be good, though, for a child going through rejection at school or dealing with being left out by the big kids.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book -- I like all of Mercer Mayer's books -- but this one wasn't a favorite. The topic was good, and Little Critters attempts to grow were funny, but I wasn't satisfied with the resolution. In real life, the big kids would probably win a running race. Now if the kids had raced through tunnels or other small places, that would have had a different outcome and Little Critter would have been happy that he was little, or just big enough.

[Beth Devine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a fan of Little Critter Books, this one is added to my list of must haves. Little Critter always sits in the same seat on the bus, but a big kid took his seat. At recess, he wanted to play, but only the big kids could. He goes on his own quest to figure out how to grow bigger. He tries a bunch of things, but it doesn't work. He visited his grandparents, and they were able to show him that sometimes being small is big enough.
Great read for K-1 teachers for self-worth talks and reading circles.

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter loved this book. We read it every night for about a month!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

LC learns that being little has its benefits and that he shouldn't try to grow too fast. Deals with very real kids problems of not being included by and a bit being bullied by the bigger kids.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

1/19/19 Read with Naomi & Julia

[Rory Toohey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm Small But Fast So Let Me Play Football: The Darren Sproles Story

[Tommy Schlosser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hopefully your kids are just big enough to appreciate this book and learn it's okay to be little, for now of course!

[Alishea Ramsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a good read! I would read this to talk about bullying. The main idea is that everyone is important and special in their own way.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Critter wants to be bigger, but he learns it's not always better to be bigger.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kids enjoyed these, particularly the humour. And they’ve aged well.

[J9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Mercer Mayer book that all my kids enjoyed. My 5 yr old just adores Mayer and requests her books constantly. I read them at the breakfast or lunch table and even my 3 yr old twins get into them. We love trying to find the mouse and spider that seems to follow the main character around, they’re always doing silly things. Fun engaging themes that any child can relate to, a great addition to any children's library.

[J9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Mercer Mayer book that all my kids enjoyed. My 5 yr old just adores Mayer and requests her books constantly. I read them at the breakfast or lunch table and even my 3 yr old twins get into them. We love trying to find the mouse and spider that seems to follow the main character around, they’re always doing silly things. Fun engaging themes that any child can relate to, a great addition to any children's library.

[Kymberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute! Lil' Critter always is told he is not big enough, and feels that he doesn't measure up. At the end of the story he realizes that he is just big enough to do what he needs to do. The kids loved this one! They got complain about not being big enough or being too little any more. I love when they learn from the story in the book.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

We like how the character learns to look for the positive and stand up for himself without being aggressive. It's fun for children to "spy" the little spider in every illustration.
Becky, Jacob likes it as much as Jonathan! Thank you!

[Dash · Rating 1 out of 5]

My favorite part is when the little kids beat the big kids in the race.

[Allie Patten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome! I would read this to talk about bullying. The main idea is that everyone is important and special in their own way.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute. Love Mercer Mayer

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

typical Mercer Mayer story and illustrations with the current topic of bullying.

This book created some discussion when read aloud to the kindergarten classes in a great way.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun reminder than small can be great too.

[Liana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book series ever for children!

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that is in a big book! Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu”

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good one.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun children's books that teach simple ways to solve problems and make friends out of enemies.