Mary Had a Little Lab

by Sue Fliess (Author) Petros Bouloubasis (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade
Mary is an enterprising young inventor. One day she realizes she has no friends, so she decides a pet will do the trick. But the pet Mary wants isn't one she can easily buy...so she makes one--and it's a sheep, of course! Soon Mary, her sheep, and her new invention gain her popularity and friends. But when she starts making sheep for her new friends, chaos abounds.
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School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1--Inventing new things is exciting. But sometimes it gets lonely in the lab, especially when all of the other kids are playing at the park. Mary decides to get a pet to keep her company. After acquiring some wool, Mary invents a new machine to make sheep. The lamb is everything Mary could hope for, so she takes it to school with her. All of the kids want pet sheep of their own, so Mary invites them to her lab. While making sheep for her friends, the machine jams and too many lambs are churned out. Mary and her friends have to find homes for her them, so they put the lab on wheels. Now "everywhere that Mary went, her lab was sure to go." A fun, inventive play on a traditional rhyme that is accompanied by lively mixed-media illustrations. VERDICT This is a surefire read-aloud that shows a girl being a successful scientist and is a great fit for STEM storytimes.--Nicole Detter-Smith, Homestead High School, IN

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Angie Karcher's Best in Rhyme Award 2019

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780807549865
Lexile Measure
560
Guided Reading Level
I
Publisher
Albert Whitman & Company
Publication date
April 20, 2020
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV036000 - Juvenile Fiction | Science & Technology
JUV002090 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Farm Animals
JUV002190 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Pets
JUV057000 - Juvenile Fiction | Stories in Verse (see also Poetry)
JUV055000 - Juvenile Fiction | Nursery Rhymes
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
Friendship
Stories in rhyme
Humorous fiction
Inventors
Sheep
JUVENILE FICTION / Science & Technology
JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Pets
JUVENILE FICTION / Nursery Rhymes

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