Just Me and My Mom

Little Critter and his mom have a day on the town, visiting the museum and the aquarium and the mall, with a quick trip in a fancy restaurant and a real lunch at a hot dog cart. They take the train there and back, with Little Critter crashing into sleep on the way home. I continue to love this series. The text is simple, which means it can keep the attention of my two-year-old as I read to her. Yet even though Mayer keeps the story small and economical, he inserts a lot of humor in his words. For instance, the way Little Critter has to hold his mom's hand so she won't be scared, and his innocent naivete in not understanding why the museum curator doesn't want him holding fragile dinosaur eggs or why the aquarium docent kicks them out show more because his pet frog jumps in the fish tank. Mayer truly captures a child's perspective in his series.

The pictures are a treat, too. Very cute, with lots of details in every illustration that will delight the careful reader. It's fun to keep track of his pet frog's antics. As a new mom, I loved the expressions on his mother's face: tired, exasperated, proud, and always loving. I've had many a trip to the museum or aquarium or restaurants myself - but never in one day, that would be just too much! - so I can appreciate how wonderful yet exhausting such adventures are with your children. This is a sweet story which I plan on reading many more times to all my children. show less

This was probably one of my favorite books I have read so far! It is such a cute little story about a little boy and his mom spending the day together and all the obstacles they overcome. Being a young child and being curious, causes the little boy to sometimes get himself in trouble, but that doesn't stop the two from having a great day together! For example, the young boy was given the money to buy the train ticket, but could not find the tickets when the conductor came around for them. This could have been the end to a great day, yet instead the mother pays for the train ride again and their adventures continue.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the curiosities of the young boy in both the aquarium and the museums! It shows just how innocent show more young children are, but how they sometimes step over the boundaries and break the rules while trying to learn. For example, the child putting on the costumes of the exhibits in the museum! I think it is great that the story is geared towards the interests and thought processes of young children.
The only thing I found to be districting in this story was some of the pictures. For the most part the pictures were large and colorful, grabbing the attention of the reader. However, on some pages there was just too much going on which was taking away from the focus of the story and catching the eyes of the reader instead. This was particularly distracting in the city scenes. show less

This book is about a mother and son who go into the big city. He tells the story of their adventures from his point of view. The pictures, however, show the mother's point of view. The story tells how they visited a museum, went on a train, went shopping and ate at a fancy restaurant.

I love this book. I can remember reading it to my brother when he was a little guy. Just like the book, my brother thought he was innocent, but others around him knew he was into everything!

Possible Extensions:
1. I will have each student write a story about their mothers.
2. I will use this story around Mother's Day to show how special mothers are.
3. I may have the students write a story, but illustrate the story in someone else's point of view to mimic the show more situation in this book. show less

Just me and my mom is a story about a little boy beaver and his mom. They spend the day together in the city and he’s constantly causing trouble; although he doesn’t think so. He loses the tickets for the train, got kicked out of the museum for touching too much, ran away from his mother at the aquarium, they were kicked out of a restaurant, went shopping then back home. By the end of the day, he was exhausted and couldn’t stay awake for the train ride home.
My son and I are often doing everything together since my husband is always working. My son does the same types of things, he thinks he’s helping but really just getting in the way and causing trouble. I think all kids go through this stage because they don’t understand show more when to just stand back and listen; they want to be involved with everything. This book deals with animal fantasy where the animals actually talk. Preposterous situations are also mentioned when the little boy grabs the dinosaur egg and it begins to crack. Kids love modern fantasy books and movies because it takes them to an imaginary world.
This book could be used to read aloud to kids and also a great bedtime story. I plan to read this book to my son right before we start a day of adventure; it could teach him about staying out of trouble when out with mommy. After reading this book in a classroom setting, the teacher could ask the students to create a story about a day out with a parent, friend or grandparent. This would be great for practicing writing skills. show less

Just Me and My Mom is a story about Little Critter and his mom spending the day together in the cities. They take a train to the cities, and Little Critter forgets to hold onto his ticket, so his mom has to spend more money in order for him to ride the train with his mom. The day is filled with Little Critter messing up a lot, but his mother forgives him every time. She may give him a look, but she never raises her voice to him. He learns a lot of lessons, but he especially loves that he just gets to be with his mom. In all of the illustrations there is a little frog that goes on the adventures with them. Children can play a game to see where he is at all times. This is fun for children, and it will certainly keep them entertained show more throughout the story. show less

Summary: The little boy in this book gets to experience a day in a big city with his mother. There is trouble though because he either doesn't know how to read or simply doesn't read the posted signs nor is he give guidance from his mother. The story ends by the mom completeing task that the son was previously allowed to do. It's a day of new experiences and new challenges.

Personal Reflection: I felt bad for this little boy. His mom takes him to this big city and she is introducing him to new experiences and new freedoms that he clearly has not had before. The things that happened and reactions of all involved were expected. I think I could make good use of this book in discussing the importance of rules and slowly gaining/earnning new show more freedoms.

Classroom Extentions:
1) Read this book and then discuss and set class rules for a field trip.
2) Read this book and then discuss proposed changes to the class rules.
3) Journal about a special day with a parent or other relative. Include new things you were aloud to do, new experiences, new places, and your feelings. If no such experience use your imagination and tell your own story about who you would like to spend a special day with and what kind of new experience you would like to have with them. How do you think it would go? show less

This story is about Little Critter who spends the day with his mother in town. Although, he means well he gets himself in trouble throughout the day by losing the train tickets, picking up the dinosaur egg at the musuem, and misbehaving at lunch. Little Critter's mom is very patient in spite of his misbehavior.

I have read this book to my boys for years. They love to hear how Little Critter messes up but his mother loves him anyway and we always get into a discussion about ways they misbehave.

One extension idea is to have the class discuss ways they misbehave and discuss how we can obey our teachers and parents. Another extension idea is to have the children draw a picture of what their favorite thing to do when spending the day with a show more parent or grandparent. show less