Little Critter Flies High at the Science Fair

I usually dreaded science fairs in elementary school. Not nearly as much as PJAS (Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science), the life-consuming science project competition that followed in middle school; if I'd known what was coming I might have been more grateful that I could just put together a little display instead of having to come up with a complex investigation that would last several months. But whenever science fair time rolled around, I sweated it, because I've never been very good at coming up with ideas. Maybe it's because I'm so indecisive, or because I'm desperate to do something original. But I always seemed to be the last one in my class to pick a subject for my project.

Little Critter faces such a problem in Mercer Mayer's Just a School Project. It's science fair time, and first he has no ideas, and then, after a stimulating trip to the library, he has too many, none of which seem to work out the way he hopes. I love Little Critter's creativity. He wants to pour his effort into something really worthwhile, like building a rocket that can fly to the moon or digging up dinosaur bones in his yard. Eventually, though, he settles on a more sedate project, one that happens to be close to my heart: caterpillars.

This book provides several interesting facts about caterpillars: They start out as eggs. They eat flowers and leaves. They grow out of their skin. And, of course, they turn into butterflies. What the book fails to mention is how that metamorphosis comes about. Little Critter sticks some caterpillars in a cozy, leaf-lined box; a week later, butterflies of all colors come flying out. Two problems. One, Caterpillars do not turn into butterflies that quickly. Two, there was no room in that little box for cocoons - or even for 20 caterpillars. It's so stuffed with vegetation it seems only one or two caterpillars would fit in there.

Aside from this quibble, Just a School Project is informative and entertaining. The illustrations contain more words than usual, with several amusing signs displayed throughout the book, from the "Soda Pop is Forbidden" sign at the library o the "Learning is Candy for your Mind" sign at the science fair. I also like the way the book chronicles Little Critter's struggles to create an attractive poster, showing us the trouble he has with knowing what size to make his letters and with applying glue without making a mess.

For any child facing a science project, Just a School Project ought to provide that extra burst of motivation.