Determiner “(a) little” with singular countable words

Page 308 of Practical English Usage reads

We use the determiner (a) little with singular (usually uncountable)
words.

What use with singular countable words is it implying?

I know it’s always possible to treat nouns as uncountable in a jocular tone, as in This is much too much car for me or the structure "too much X for so little Y", where both or either can be countable nouns.