Sam & Dave Dig a Hole

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For more on persistence and perseverance in children’s books, I’ve written about that too.) OPPONENT/MONSTER/BADDIE/ENEMY/FRENEMY I’m guessing this is the one most kids and adults will arrive at. It’s the theory that seems the most likely to me. When Sam and Dave dig deep enough, they don’t end up on the other side of the world, but in an alternate reality. This parallel world concept makes sense when you see how the house and yard at the end are almost exactly the same. The could also be called The Another World Theory. BONUS: Theory #7: The ‘They Both Die at the End’ Theory Entertaining, funny and interesting... This picture-driven book engages the imagination with deadpan humor and dry wit." Is any childhood truly complete without at least one shovel-wielding foray into shoulder-deep dirt?...A carefully choreographed interplay between Mac Barnett’s straight-faced text ("So they kept digging") and Caldecott-winner Jon Klassen’s stylized illustrations ." A clever second collaboration between Barnett and Klassen… The prose is deadpan; the joke’s all in Klassen’s winsomely smudgy illustrations.

Sam and Dave happen to be very similar. They are basically the same person in duplicate, and we can consider them in this way. Sam+Dave contrast with the dog. They may even be twins. They share the same grandfather, so they are at least cousins of about the same age. When it comes to the dog, I think he can be interpreted different ways. First of all, he serves to help the reader realize how the story is a metaphor, he’s almost a silent narrator who urges us to think about the story in more than a literal way. Additionally, he reminds me of people in our lives who are with us along the way, mentors or other individuals who we go to and who listen almost as outsiders. Sometimes it’s hard to see the big picture of life when we’re living it, but there are often wise people who can see that bigger perspective – and sometimes they point this out to us while other times they let us realize it for ourselves. Overall, I like that the dog doesn’t really interfere, that they boys make the choices that they make and he’s there do to his thing as they go along. I believe he gets the bone as an example that there are some people who know what they want and that it doesn’t have to be something spectacular. And maybe that’s another message – or an extension of the boys’ message – that when you are always looking for something monumental in life, you might not appreciate the little things but if you stay focused on the small things and the most important things, you generally are happier with what you get.A visually appealing underground adventure... Kids will love to read, reread and just look at this book."

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. Entertaining, funny and interesting… This picture-driven book engages the imagination with deadpan humor and dry wit.Marvelous. … Jon Klassen’s art, created digitally in colored pencil, adds witty and clever layers to a humorous story about friendship, strategic thinking and determination. 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. A masterwork in humor, subtlety, and surprise, Sam & Dave Dig a Hole will leave readers digging for the truth."

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Notice how it’s impossible to talk about the shortcoming of the main character(s) without also talking about the rest of the story? That’s how it should be. The shortcoming of the character/s affects how the rest of the story plays out. A character’s shortcoming affects the plans they make and how they respond to other characters.

Now we’ve identified the characters, what is their big shortcoming? What are they not very good at? In a cast of characters, everyone probably has a different shortcoming. An understated, humorous, and charmingly perplexing tale. ...What works spectacularly is the clever play between words and pictures. As in Klassen’s "This Is Not My Hat," readers are in on a joke to which the characters are oblivious. Namely, that each time the boys change direction, they narrowly miss discovering increasingly enormous jewels hidden in the earth. ... Klassen’s use of muted earth tones and uncomplicated compositions is paired well with Barnett’s deadpan humor." In the interview they discuss the importance of the spread where Sam and Dave split up to dig separately. Part wry comedy of errors, part Twilight Zone, if you’re digging through your shelves for something spectacular, look no further. Painting with Soil. Another way to show how the ordinary can produce something extraordinary is to have students create artwork with soil. Show them images such as these ( http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/edu/?cid=nrcs142p2_054282) that artists have painted with soil. Involve students in the preparation for painting by taking them on nature walks to gather soils of different colors, or have them bring in a container of soil from other places in the community.