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Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
by Mac Barnett
Two boys dig for something spectacular and keep turning aside just before they reach it, while the reader watches them miss.
A story about children and animals, funny and wry in tone. We would put it with children of 3–6, and at a reading age of about 5 for reading alone.
Nothing flagged
We have not flagged any content in this one that a parent would usually want warning about.
Our take on this book
Sam and Dave dig a hole, determined not to stop until they find something spectacular — and the reader can see, in every picture, the enormous jewels they miss by inches as they keep changing direction, before the whole enterprise ends in a strange and dreamlike twist. Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen's picture book is a small marvel of dramatic irony and quiet mystery: the joke of the near-misses delights younger children, while the genuinely puzzling ending — are they home, or somewhere subtly changed? — gives older ones and adults something to argue about. It is dry, clever and beautifully paced, with Klassen's trademark deadpan restraint. Nothing is frightening; the mood is more wonder than worry. For a three- to six-year-old it is funny and satisfying on first reading, and rewards many more — the kind of picture book that repays being pored over and puzzled at, and a modern classic of understated storytelling.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
This Moose Belongs to MeOliver Jeffers
Handa's SurpriseEileen Browne
I Want My Hat BackJon Klassen
On the Way HomeJill Murphy
This Is Not My HatJon Klassen
Where's My Teddy?Jez Alborough
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.