We All Need Forgiveness

Mercer Mayer's Little Critter Inspired Kids

by Mercer Mayer

In "We All Need Forgiveness," Little Critter is glad he has such nice friends who forgive him when he makes mistakes. But when one of his friends accidentally does something that affects him, Little Critter gets upset and stays angry at his friend for a while. But Little Critter's pals teach him that saying "it's okay" helps the person who acted up--"and" it helps him feel better much sooner.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Christian

24 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2014

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

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for my toddler’s bedtime. Little Critter finds it irritating and upsetting when his sister and friends breaks things he loves and expecting him to say it’s okay when they say sorry. He couldn’t forgive right away but it made him feel bad about it.

Read from kindle unlimited.

[Mahdiye HajiHosseini · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Phylicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

We All Need Forgiveness follows Little Critter on a very rough day. One thing snowballs into another and Little Critter is mad at everyone and everything. His grumpy mood begins to impact the people around him. When this causes his friends to be upset with him, Little Critter realizes he needs to forgive others just like he wants to be forgiven. Forgiveness is something that is very difficult for some children (and adults) to understand. The idea that forgiving others does more for yourself than those who have wronged you is very powerful. Take Little Critter for example; instead of forgiving his sister, he stays mad, and his mood ruins his whole day. Now he is taking it out on other people and he is the one that wants to be forgiven. But if he had forgiven his sister in the first place, it would have never ruined his day. Forgiveness is powerful. If children can understand forgiveness, they can help this world just that much more.

[Daniel Barrows · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great animal illustrations convey the situations even without the words. The book emphasizes human tendency toward actor–observer asymmetry through a relatable protagonist, whose eagerness to be forgiven and reluctance to forgive is obviously unfair and non-reciprocal. By eliciting our sense of unfairness and recognizing the sad potential of perpetually broken relationships, the reader is motivated to forgive, while recognizing this is often difficult and counterintuitive in the moment.

[Karen Hiatt Brace · Rating 5 out of 5]

We All Need Forgiveness

This book is an entertaining way to teach about forgiveness. It is a reminder that all of us need forgiveness from time to time and we also need to be willing to forgive. It even speaks about how uncomfortable we feel when we do not forgive. The artwork in this book is incredible. Just looking at the bright colorful pages is enjoyable. Children can easily make up their own stories by looking at the colorful pages in this book.

[Nadhiae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Mercer Meyer's Little Critter stories.

Great lesson about forgiveness! I thoroughly enjoy reading Little Critter books to my children & my children enjoy being read to all the same! 😊

[Tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

We All Need Forgiveness

Oh how true this statement is regarding forgiveness. We all need it.
Oh how we NATO be quick to forgive as we would like others to be quick to forgive us.
Forgiveness is a powerful tool that we can use daily.

[Talea · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a cute little story that helps children learn about the importance of forgiveness.

[Doniesha Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son and I loved it!

I love the simple message it sends to the little ones forgiveness is definatly the answer! We will definatly be reading more of these books,

[TJE · Rating 3 out of 5]

not bad, not great

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the little critter books! I was surprised by the religious aspect in this one as I've never seen it in any of our other books in this series.

[Brandi (Rambles of a SAHM) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgiveness is something that we all expect when we do something wrong, whether intentionally or not. But forgiving someone else when they have done something to us is not so easy. As adults, and especially Christians, we know that we are required to forgive. Colossians 3:13 says, "Forgive each other because the Lord forgave you."

Little Critter is all out of sorts because his friends and even some of his family have done things that have made him downright mad. The last thing he wants to do is forgive them. But of course the tables are eventually turned and he is in need of forgiveness. Things definitely look different from that perspective.

Mercer Mayer has once again used the delightful animals in his Little Critter's series to help you teach your child a valuable life lesson. Come along with Little Critter and his friends as they explore giving and receiving forgiveness. The book is a great jumping off point for discussions on why we should forgive and how we should go about seeking forgiveness.

I received a copy of this book to facilitate my review.

[Maryann Skaritka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little Critter learns the valuable lessons of forgiveness in this sweet childrens board book.

He sees how important it is to forgive others and how to go about that by saying he is sorry and how to ask for forgiveness too.

Little Critter knocked over his mothers cake, his dads oil can, and he knocked over the candy house prop for the school play.

When his sand castle gets knocked over, his cookie gets squished, his bike gets knocked down, his bath toy, crayons and yo-yo get ruined he gets mad and does not forgive easily.

Little Critter's friends forgive him for the candy house damage and invite him to play with them. He learns that when you forgive others as God forgives us, it makes you feel better.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book teaches an important lesson about forgiving others. When Little Critter's friends make mistakes he gets mad at them. Soon enough, he is the one seeking forgiveness.

If no one forgives each other and learns to move past the situation you can lose friends and miss out on many fun activities.

Many stories focus on seeking forgiveness for your mistakes and learning to say you are sorry. This book reminds us that others can and will make mistakes and sometimes it will be you who needs to accept an apology. No one is perfect!

[Verona · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son Ryan and I share books, and he's been choosing books for his young children which I am enjoying. I absolutely love the Little Critters books! This one has a valuable message for any age. It's not a sugar coated version of forgiveness. Little Critter had need of forgiveness for things he did, and he needed to forgive others for things he did. Things work out in a natural way and he learns the appropriate lesson that happiness is a result of forgiveness. The story evolved in a very real way. We get the message in a eye palatable way.

[Abigail Saulman · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Little Critter is glad he has friends who forgive him when he makes mistakes, but when one of his friends does something that hurts him, Little Critter gets upset and stays angry at his friend. But Little Critter's pals help him to learn that saying "it's okay" helps the person who hurt you.
I think this would be a great book in the classroom for young children when they are starting to make friends and don't know how to deal when they make one another upset.

[Shauna Ludlow Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ordered this book last week and it came right when I needed it--after a big family fight with adult children. We usually expect/demand that others forgive us but are slower to offer that healing process when others hurt us. The concept of forgiving is presented in a simple, beautiful way with this book.

[Betsy McElhannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. We All Need Forgiveness by Mercer Mayer
2. Awards: none for this book
3. Genre: Realistic Fiction
4. Setting: Little Critters home, school and backyard. All in environments with peers.
5. I can use this book to help students learn forgiveness. They can relate to the feelings of Little Critter, and learn from how he corrects his outlook towards others when they make him mad.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty basic moral lesson stuff. Not as much fun as some of the other Little Critter books.

[Pinky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Critter learns to forgive in order to be forgiven.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the art (especially the spider)!
Who doesn't need a reminder to be a little more gracious and forgiving?

This story is move obviously religious.