Sam and Dave Dig a Hole (Irma S and James H Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards))

Without previewing it first, I read this aloud today to 2nd graders. They were SCREAMING by a few pages in. They could not contain themselves! They absolutely loved it. The book has a great twist that even I did not see coming. We talked about how boring the story would have been if the boys had met their original intent and if the audience had been rewarded with their knee-jerk hopes for the story's resolution. It's a gentle gem of a book that will bring students a lot of amusement and offer teachers some great talks!

Cute. mixed feelings. Boys were so close to finding their treasure but always took a different route. In the end they were happy with their entertaining day. I saw it as -- they quit to soon, try a little harder.

Such a great story for prompting philosophical discussions about pursuits in life. I read this to a group of kids ages 5-12, all going through some difficult circumstances of one kind or another. Its a light hearted approach to several great topics. For instance, is it really all about the journey and not the destination, and or is what you are longing for so close you can touch it, but you just don't see it. The frustration of being a reader who sees they are missing out on what they are searching for by just a small margin. Having the big picture perspective as the reader but you can't tell the characters what to do. Really a cool book!

The story is simple but the illustrations are wonderful. My 5-yr-old granddaughter loves the book. While the text is sparse, it's easy to add your own details when reading with a child. Such as what the dog is doing or might be thinking. It's a short but fun read.

I teach high school students and love to read them quality children's books occasionally. This one is an absolute gem, because the drawings are hilarious and engrossing and the story made my students immediately shout out questions and debate the story - they were actively engaged in commentary throughout. One day later, they were still processing the story and "what really happened." Such a great inventive story! Love the illustrator and the writer!

Sam and Dave decide one Monday that they are going to dig a hole. These boys are on a mission and won't stop until they find something spectacular. Soon they have dug themselves in above their heads. Dave refuses to stop until they find something. After eating their cookies and drinking their milk, they ultimately fall asleep from exhaustion. The boys wind up falling and falling, yet they fail to see the treasure that eludes them.

The book has lots of humor and a surprise ending. Seems like the family dog knows where the treasure is all the time. Proves the point that spectacular means different things to different people. Generally I do not enjoy books with so much white space and sparse, stylized illustration, but this in this case using the earth tone colors and simple conversation, it fits the bill. Targeted for preschoolers and early elementary age children, but some aspects of the story are subtle which may lead some children to ask for explanation.

This book was quite disappointing. Having purchased it after reading the summary on-line, it was not what I expected. I won't make that mistake again. If I don't know the author, I will check it out at the bookstore first. My grandsons just didn't 'get' the story and, frankly, I was at a loss on how to best explain it to them.

Sam & Dave Dig A Hole is a wonderfully written story by Mac Barnett and the illustrations by Jon Klassen are great. In particularly I like the matte finish to the book, the great use of white space, and mostly importantly you should see if your child can see and pick out the subtle differences in the illustrations from the beginning of the book to the end that Klassen has subtly changed. Barnett writes a creative story around the simple task of digging a hole that so many children partake in throughout their childhood determined to find a treasure of sorts. I give this book two thumbs up! ~The Librarian Uncle

Sam and Dave and their faithful dog begin digging a hole, hoping to find "something spectacular." Several feet down, they decide to dig in a different direction--and narrowly miss unearthing a massive gem. As the tired and discouraged boys continue changing directions, they miss a series of increasingly massive gems, the last one so huge it takes up an entire page. The reader, seeing the excavations in cross-section, will groan each time the boys come within inches of making the discovery of a lifetime.

Eventually, the boys' dog unearths a bone, causing the earth beneath them to give way and sending all three into a free-fall. Somehow, they land on the surface of the earth again, and they're right back where they started--or are they? Wasn't that pear tree an apple tree before? Wasn't that cat on the porch wearing a different collar? The reader is left to decide what happened.

Dramatic irony, understated humor, and award-winning illustration combine for a funny and enjoyable read that will stoke readers' imaginations. Fans of Jon Klassen's work ("This is Not My Hat," "I Want My Hat Back") will not be disappointed.

Beautifully illustrated and an wonderfully subtle story going on. Some of the reviews mention a lackluster ending or being underwhelmed, but I think they might not have carefully studied the clues. What the protagonists apparently miss (but not that keen-eyed dog!) is that the world they come back to isn't the same one the left, but rather some sort of parallel world. Take note of the differences between the world they leave and the one they return to. Quite clever, and kids love figuring out the "twist." Excellent piece of art!

Knowing little boys, they do "stuff" and one of the "stuff" things they like to do is adventure into the unknown and what is more unknown than what lies underneath their feet. So Sam and Dave decide they are going to dig a hole. They are going to dig a hole looking for something spectacular. No, they're not looking for the typical fishing worms so many boys (and men) are wont to do, they are just going for the big, the spectacular, the unknown good stuff.

So with shovels in hand (and illustrator Jon Klassen with pen and water colors in hand) they venture forth in the backyard. Their trusty dog is with them all the way. And the cat is observing on the sidelines.

What is so neat and nifty about this dirt-encrusted (or so it appears from the colors) picture book is that they are going first down, then changing directions, then changing again. They stop and drink their chocolate milk and eat their animal crackers (while sitting deep in the hole and fully encrusted with dirt). They get tired. They keep digging. And finally they go to sleep. And dream.....

There are just a few words to this delightful adventure of two little boys (I had boys of my own!) and there are illustrations that are stark, replete with droll humour and eye rolls. And there is the spectacular - there in the dirt - there to be seen or to be missed. But alas I won't give away the ending.

I just wonder how many little boys have been inclined to go forth and dig a hole or to dig more holes since lingering on the pages of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole.

I can see why this book has won so many awards including the cherished Caldecott Honor Book, the E.B. White Read-aloud Award, New York Times Best-Seller and Notable Book, etc. I recommend this book for libraries and home libraries as well.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from Candlewick Press to facilitate this review. I was not compensated for this review nor was I required to render a positive review.

The illustrations are what got me. I checked this out from the public library before purchasing. After reading the library copy, I purchased a copy off of the store to add to my daughter's collection because of how much I liked it. It's important to me that I actually enjoy the books that I'm reading to her. Maybe it'll instill a life lesson about perseverance but I'm happy because it made me laugh.

Wait. Wait...WHAT ARE THE PHYSICS OF THIS WORLD? I know it's a children's book, and I shouldn't question it, but my mind is a little blown, right now. Sam and Dave dig a hole so deep they...fall out of the sky, back to their house? Bwuh? I mean, I was really expecting them to come out the other side of the Earth, so I appreciated this inversion (and the avoidance of the all-too-common "digging to China" joke), but I'm going to be puzzled all day.

I feel like this is Jon Klassen's specialization with illustrations. Little absurdities that lead up to big shocks for the adult readers, which might be a bit lost on the kids. In "This Is Not My Hat," it was dramatic irony leading up to murder. Here, it's the dramatic irony of missed treasure leading up to a fundamental rewriting of physics.

I certainly enjoyed this, and I'm sue kids will, as well. It's probably best to give it a try from the library, first, just in case, though.

Fantastic illustrations make the reader stay riveted to the end. My students loved noticing not only the obvious things Sam and Dave couldn't see, but also the way the dog seemed to know an awful lot, as well as the contrast between the house scene at the end of the book and the one at the beginning. A great pictures-tell-the-story type of book, much like Klassen's I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat.

I loved the sparse illustrations and the simple text and dialogue BUT I must admit the ending totally escaped me! I read the story again and still "ZERO"...I didn't get it. Then I read a few of the reviews on this site and the final pages sort of made sense. BUT that underscores why I'm not passing this one on to my granddaughter....If grandpa, who taught literature for nearly four decades, didn't "get it" Brynn will probably miss the point too....There are too may cool books out there waiting to be enjoyed so I'm not going to try to explain this one to a small child !

Book provided by the publisher.

Sam and Dave are Yoga Archaeologists

Sam and Dave Dig A Hole by Mac Barnett is an adorable and laugh-out-loud funny story about two boys and the power of determination. When I first read the book, I was struck by how closely related it was related to how I view the journey of yoga. In yoga, we are archaeologists of our bodies, mind and soul. We endlessly inquire into how our bodies work, what feels good/bad, what makes us feel better and what are our habits. With care, kindness and perseverance, we as yoga archaeologists brush away layer after layer of “dirt”to unearth our somatic history. Like in archaeology, you do not always know what you are looking for, maybe there is nothing there or maybe there is a hidden treasure. It is a slow process. New things pop up and take you down different paths of discovery/sensation. Archaeologists and yogi's have patience, focus, a lust for knowledge, seek the unknown, show flexibility in mind, body and soul, have inner strength and above all love what they do. Same and Dave exemplify this in the fact that they are not driven by finding a treasure but instead by the evident joy along their path of discovery. The journey is the ultimate reward!

I have already brought this book with me to a number of yoga classes and as Mr. Barnett says, there is no ceiling on this book's suggested age limit. Like him, I say this book is wonderful for ages 4 to adult. Noting the peels of laughter from the younger kids, the smirks from the mid-graders and the dancing eyes from my teens tells me “I am correct”; it's an all-around winner!

I highly recommend this book to everyone! The illustrations by Jon Klassen are simply adorable. The fact that Sam and Dave do not have mouths makes me think they are communicating through mental telepathy and after catching the subtle artistic changes at the end of the book, my classes were lead naturally into theorizing about the ending to the story.

Full Disclosure: The author provided me with a copy of Sam And Dave Dig A Hole. All opinions expressed are my own.

I really liked the cover of this children’s book and I heard it was good but it failed to live up to my expectations. I liked how the boys were on a mission with chocolate milk and animal cookies. I like how they didn’t give up on their expedition, they really did a lot of digging with their dog and they had high expectations to find something spectacular from the beginning. I found the illustrations interesting and engaging as the boys shoveled deeper into the earth and their hole got larger and larger. There were gems all around them, packed deep into the earth but the boys shovels were missing them as they dug. The illustrations provided great visuals of the boys and their journey. The ending just didn’t sit right with me; it still bothers me days later as I think about it. Why, oh why did it end this way?

My class loved this book. It is funny, awesome, and magical. We love how Sam and Dave got soooo close to something spectacular but then kept changing their direction. We loved how it ended too...but you have to look close!