Just Me And My Little Brother ~ Mercer Mayer Strikes Again!
Written: Jun 04 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Another Little Critter winner from Mercer Mayer
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: Another excellent Little Critter that both children and parents can relate to
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| MumMumMum's Full Review: Mercer Mayer - Just Me and My Little Brother |
Today’s Little Critter story is Just Me And My Little Brother, written and illustrated by the extremely talented Mercer Mayer. Little Critter stories never fail to entertain us, and this story is definitely no exception!
Tell me a story!
All right, I will! Little Critter is quite enjoying the fact that he has a little brother. He figures they’ll do everything together. They’ll pick apples, and he’ll help his brother climb up. They’ll have bunk beds and play space wars. They’ll scare away the bullies together, and watch the spooky late shows on tv! They’ll eat most of the ice cream and cake at birthday parties, and play cowboys and Indians…..Little Critter will even let his little brother catch him! Halloween will be so much fun when they go trick-or-treating together, and at Thanksgiving he’ll let his brother win when they break the wishbone!
Winter will come and Little Critter and his little brother will build snowmen, and snow forts. They’ll have snowball fights, with both of them on the same side. Christmas morning….ah, of course they’ll share their presents! Easter time brings egg hunting season….Little Critter won’t mind if his little brother finds the most eggs.
We will play all day and never get tired. There are so many things we can do, just me and my little brother.
But first he’ll have to learn how to walk.
Come on now, you know we loved this book!
Oh, my! Mercer Mayer, I am quite certain you have a hidden camera trained on my children! Having had four children, I have heard many of the fantasies involved with having a younger sibling….how wonderful it will be! Oh, they’ll be so helpful when the little brother/sister comes! Oh, they’ll play, and laugh, and talk, and share everything!
Yeah, right!
Every parent of more than one child can easily relate to this story. Little Critter is full of love for his little brother. The anticipation of having a full time playmate is tremendous, and he’s seeing the world through rose coloured glasses. The illustrations tell the real tale, as always. Christmas time and sharing? Well, it sure doesn’t look like they’re sharing that baseball bat! Easter eggs….no, of course Little Critter won’t mind his brother finding more eggs! But, isn’t that a look of aggravation and frustration on Little Critter’s face?
But there are also plenty of illustrations that show that Little Critter and his little brother are getting along just fine, thank you very much! Dressed in their snowsuits in the snow, riding their bicycles together, trick-or-treating together, life is so good having a little brother!
The illustrations are, as always, tremendously funny! I particularly love the picture of Little Critter and his little brother clutching onto each other in sheer terror, eyes even bigger than dinner plates, when they’re watching the spooky tv show. The illustration where Little Critter is teaching his brother to ride a bike….oh, my…..little brother has a look of complete terror in his eyes, you can almost feel the bike careening out of control….and in front of him their little mouse friend is….well, our expression as soon as we looked at the mouse was, ”Run for your stinkin’ cheesy life!” My daughter loved all the illustrations, and burst out laughing when she came to the final page of the book to see that his little brother was ”still a baby!!”
My six year old enjoyed the story a great deal. The print is large, there were no difficult words, and there was a lot of repetition. She related the story quite well to her situation with her little sister, and I explained to her how her big brother felt the same way when she came along. My girl agreed that she doesn’t always get along with her baby sister, but she loves her all the time, and she loves playing with her most of the time, but sometimes she needs time for herself. My girl is one smart cookie!
Honestly, I’m not sure who enjoyed this book more, me or my daughter! Two thumbs up and five stars!
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Beverley
Location: Canada
Reviews written: 290
Trusted by: 419 members
About Me: So good to be home, but so very tired!
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