Just A Little Luck (Little Critter) by Mercer Mayer

• 04/30/2014
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Just A Little Luck (Little Critter)
Mercer Mayer
HarperFestival (2011)
ISBN 9780061478000
Reviewed by Madison Schlarman (age 5) and Mom for Reader Views (3/11)

Little Critter found a penny and thought it would give him good luck.  The only problem is he doesn’t remember if it was heads up or tails up!  As Little Critter goes about his day some very unlucky things happen.  It appears his penny was tails up and is bad luck!  Little Critter gets rid of the penny in an effort to change his luck, but will it?  Will his luck be true to the penny or will a little good luck come his way?

What Madison had to say:

“I didn’t like it much because he was unlucky.  I don’t like the frog.  I like the tiger and Little Critter.  He [Critter] found a penny and picked it up.  Heads are lucky.  Tails are unlucky.  He couldn’t remember which one he had.  He got an ice cream but he was unlucky ‘cuz it dropped.  His friends’ ice cream didn’t drop.  He threw the penny as far as it went.  He rides his bike home.  He got a flat tire and he fell.  Boo-hoo-hoo.  He had to drag his bike home.  Poor Little Critter!  His mom says ‘I’m sorry’ and gave him a hug and a bath.  She let him do his craft.  Sometimes you need just a little luck.

This book was kind of great but I didn’t like it much.  The good part was when he took a bath and his teacher helped him.  I didn’t like that he was unlucky. If I got an unlucky penny I would throw it in the pond.”

Mom’s thoughts:

This book is classic Mayer!  It has a cute story with wonderful illustrations as do all of Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter titles.  I enjoyed the idea of this story but Madison really didn’t like that bad things or sad things happened to Little Critter.  She didn’t want to read an unlucky story.   Madison probably would have loved this book if Critter was having a bad day, found a good luck penny and then had some good luck come his way. The book itself and the story are cute, but average.  There wasn’t much in it that jumped out at me as a reason to buy it over another title other than the well known work of the author.  It is a good book for the price.  If you have a son or daughter who loves the Little Critter series I would recommend “Just A Little Luck” for them.  If you’re new to the Little Critter series, I would read a few of the different titles in the store and try out the one you think your child would identify with the most.