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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
“He keeps missing the diamond!”-Abby, age 6. I love sharing books with these kids.
I read this book to my daughter’s kindergarten class and they loved it! The illustrations communicate as much as the writing. The next time I read this to a class I may read it without the illustrations and then again with them to show the significance of visual ways stories are told alongside the written word. This book is a delight!
I swear to god, this is basically a short story from Ted Chiang’s book Stories of Your Life and Others. Please, somebody, tell me you know what I’m talking about.
Sam & Dave dig a hole and in doing so, have a spectacular adventure. It may not reap the rewards that the readers want, but they are just fine with that. After all, what could be better than chocolate milk and animal cookies?
Barnett and Klassen strike gold in this silly & pleasant book about dedication and the simple joys of friendship.
Barnett and Klassen strike gold in this silly & pleasant book about dedication and the simple joys of friendship.
funny
mysterious
Perfect synergy between words and text make for a great reading experience that rewards careful attention and rereading.
J'étais bof-bof... jusqu'à la fin.
J'adooore la fin ouverte. Que de conversations possibles avec les enfants!
J'adooore la fin ouverte. Que de conversations possibles avec les enfants!
Barnett and Klassen are an amazing picture book duo who have created with this book an instant classic. Sam and Dave are two friends who set out to dig a hole on Monday. They decide that they won’t stop digging until they find “something spectacular.” They keep digging, deeper and deeper, missing jewels by just a few inches. They stop and have chocolate milk and animal cookies and then continue to dig. Maybe another direction will help them find treasure? But readers will see as they take the turn that they miss the biggest gem yet. The dog that is along with them though seems to realize that there are things right under the surface, but Sam and Dave don’t pay any attention to him. They dig and dig, missing everything along the way until they are right above a dog bone. The two boys take a nap and their dog continues to dig down until suddenly they are falling down from the hole into a world very like their own. Readers who are paying close attention though will realize that it is a subtly different place.
Children love to dig in the dirt and I think every child has dreamed of digging a truly great hole and finding something amazing. Barnett keeps his text very straight-forward and simple, allowing the humor to be in the near misses of the illustrations and the perceptiveness of the little dog. It is this frank delivery that makes the humor of the illustrations really work, giving them a platform to build off of. The ending is wonderfully open-ended, and some readers will miss the subtle differences and assume they are back home again. Others though will see the changes and realize that no matter what Sam and Dave have discovered their “spectacular” something.
Klassen’s illustrations are wonderful. I adore the way that he lets his characters look out from the page to the reader. He did the same thing in both of his great “Hat” picture books and there is a strong connection from the page to the people enjoying the book. His illustrations have a textured feel to them, an organic nature that reads particularly well in this dirt-filled world.
An instant classic and one that will get readers talking about the open ending. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
Children love to dig in the dirt and I think every child has dreamed of digging a truly great hole and finding something amazing. Barnett keeps his text very straight-forward and simple, allowing the humor to be in the near misses of the illustrations and the perceptiveness of the little dog. It is this frank delivery that makes the humor of the illustrations really work, giving them a platform to build off of. The ending is wonderfully open-ended, and some readers will miss the subtle differences and assume they are back home again. Others though will see the changes and realize that no matter what Sam and Dave have discovered their “spectacular” something.
Klassen’s illustrations are wonderful. I adore the way that he lets his characters look out from the page to the reader. He did the same thing in both of his great “Hat” picture books and there is a strong connection from the page to the people enjoying the book. His illustrations have a textured feel to them, an organic nature that reads particularly well in this dirt-filled world.
An instant classic and one that will get readers talking about the open ending. Appropriate for ages 3-5.
I really thought I had already written a review for this, but now I don't even see it on my "read" list. Strange! I read the book several times trying to figure out what I thought about it, so maybe the review was always just in my head. If so, it's gone now. I remember feeling very unsure about the ending, but liking it better after reading the theories here:
http://100scopenotes.com/2014/10/02/6-theories-on-the-ending-of-sam-dave-dig-a-hole/
http://100scopenotes.com/2014/10/02/6-theories-on-the-ending-of-sam-dave-dig-a-hole/