Review: ALL ABOUT SAM, Module 5, Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Lowry, Lois. 1988. ALL ABOUT SAM. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN # 0395486629

This story is “All About Sam” from birth to his toddler years told from his perspective. Readers will learn about babies from a baby’s point of view and this baby is capable and determined from the beginning. He appreciates the soft feel of powder on his bare bottom but hates the feel of a hat although soon appreciates its usefulness. This story includes some fun play with words such as the pan-tree which in not an actual tree and that Sam does not wish to be toilet trained but freight trained or passenger trained instead. Sam also figures that since nurses give shots he will be taught this skill when he attends nursery school. He is a bit concerned that the other children, whom will be learning this skill as well, will possibly require him as a guinea pig for practice. Sam also learns he has a conscience when he steals gum and feels compelled to admit his mistake. Through out the story he grows in body, intelligence, and character. This is a story of a happy innocence with grown up incite. Several black and white illustrations are scattered throughout the story to satisfy visual curiosity. The story is set in a safe and happy world with “no emergencies, no accidents, and no monsters”. This is a fun book which will have children thinking about their first years in a new light.