Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2014 Irma S and James H Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature Meet the illustrator, Jon Klassen, at his website: įind more picture books at the Candlewick Press website: Meet the author, Mac Barnett, at his website: “Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen Make a Book” transcript found HERE. Learn more about Sam & Dave Dig a Hole HERE. Purchase Sam & Dave Dig a Hole at Amazon - Book Depository- Candlewick Press. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Jon Klassen. Perfect for story time readings and afternoon fun. Has something been out of your reach and you wonder if you should keep trying? If so, read Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, because sometimes what seems out of reach is closer than you think. They finally find it, and learn that the journey can be just as spectacular as the “thing” they are yearning to find. Sam and Dave exert a tremendous amount of energy trying to find something spectacular. Sam & Dave Dig a Hole is about persistence, the willingness to change course, and finding the spectacular where you are and where you go.

The illustrations are engagingly simple, rendered digitally and in colored pencil by Caldecott Medal winner Jon Klassen. You will need to look closely at all the detail, in every item, in each relatively sparse spread, but if you do, the payoff is a huge laugh. While Sam and Dave dig, with their dog keeping a watchful eye, their cat sits atop the hole looking in at the boys’ progress. The humor is subtle-just under the surface (pun intended). This is a delightful book young children, especially young boys, will enjoy. I enjoyed Sam & Dave Dig a Hole immensely.

All the while Sam and Dave find nothing, until. When the boys fail to find something after digging a hole “so deep their heads were underground,” Sam and Dave change course and dig sideways, then they split up and dig up on a diagonal, then back down again until, tired from digging, the two boys fall asleep. Along with Sam and Dave is their dog (no name). They could find a dinosaur bone or maybe dig all the way to China. The premise of Sam & Dave Dig a Hole is simple: the two boys are on a mission to find something spectacular and are determined to dig until they find something. “Sam and Dave are digging a hole, and they will not stop until they find something spectacular.”

Sam and dave dig a big hole