Sam & Dave Dig a Hole

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole — Book Page Interior.jpg

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole
by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
Candlewick, 2014. Unpaged. Picture Book

Sam and Dave decide to dig a hole and they will not stop until they discover something spectacular. Nothing odd about that, but magic realism seems the order of the day in this delightful, Caldecott-honor-winning picture book. The boys dig a good distance straight down in a beautifully squared off hole that doesn't seem to require piling dirt anywhere else. Spectacular items in the form of cut diamonds of all sizes lie a mere shovelful away from the boys' search, but they veer off just before making the discovery - let's split up, they say, or go in another direction. They fortify themselves with chocolate milk and animal cookies, and then, tired out, go to sleep. The digging continues when they awake, but soon they break through and fall through the air . . . to land in a place you will never suspect. Lots of fun from two masters of the genre.

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