Sam & Dave Dig a Hole

Product Information

Tomecek, S. (2007). Jump into science: Dirt. Ill. by Nancy Woodman: National Geographic Chidlren’s Books. What do we learn from this story? That’s connected to the themes. Keep going with your goal because you might almost be there AND sometimes friends don’t always have to agree with each other. HOW WILL LIFE BE DIFFERENT FOR SAM AND DAVE FROM NOW ON? This might be one of the most difficult theories to make sense of, yet it seems fairly plausible. Sam and Dave dug through the earth, and the reason things look slightly different at the end is because they are different. It’s the other side of the world.

The deliberately poker-faced, almost banal flatness of the text isn’t the joke here but the straight man to the ironic humor of the art (the boys’ elaborate subterranean efforts carefully lead them just past several increasingly huge diamonds). … Engaging as well as stylish. Kids will enjoy playing “spot the differences” once they figure out the joke… Young excavators will appreciate this surreal modernization of the old notion of digging all the way to China. I guess this most aligns with the Epic Journey theory above but I don’t think it has to be a truly epic journey, just that everything little journey we take in life can change us in an epic way. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Ramona the Pest

Sam and Dave Dig A Hole is different from most stories, and that makes it ironic. It’s not what we expect from stories. Determined to find something spectacular, Sam and Dave dig a hole outside their grandfather's house, working until they are in over their heads. Just as they are about to unearth an enormous gem, they become discouraged and begin digging in a different direction. After successive almost-discoveries of a similar nature, they find themselves falling into something very spectacular indeed... Earlier this month I wrote a post on Teaching Kids How To Structure A Story. Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s Sam and Dave Dig A Hole is useful as mentor text because it appears at first glance to break all the rules. This story does follow the rules of storytelling, but in an ironic way. The deliberately poker-faced, almost banal flatness of the text isn’t the joke here but the straight man to the ironic humor of the art (the boys’ elaborate subterranean efforts carefully lead them just past several increasingly huge diamonds). ... Engaging as well as stylish. Kids will enjoy playing "spot the differences" once they figure out the joke... Young excavators will appreciate this surreal modernization of the old notion of digging all the way to China.

For more on persistence and perseverance in children’s books, I’ve written about that too.) OPPONENT/MONSTER/BADDIE/ENEMY/FRENEMY The beauty of this story is that it articulates something kids seem to intuitively know, but can’t really explain with language. The way that Klassen’s illustrations tell as much of the story as Barnett’s words is absolutely brilliant."The irony here is that the characters don’t get what they want BECAUSE their plans change. Mac Barnett understands story structure at a deep level and this story is almost a parody of regular stories. (He’s making fun of other stories.) BIG STRUGGLE