SAM'S CAR; SAM'S COOKIE; SAM'S TEDDY BEAR

by Barbro Lindgren ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 1982

By the pair responsible (with Jack Prelutsky) for last year's infectious The Wild Baby: three pert mini-dramas, in mock-primerese, for tiny tots--from which you may wish, however, to select only one or two. Sam's Cookie and Sam's Car are similar struggles-for-possession. Both begin with scruffy tyke Sam and the object of his attentions: ""Sam has a cookie""; ""Look, here's Sam's car."" Then, after more or less warm-up, ""Doggie takes Sam's cookie"" and Lisa and Sam fight over Sam's little red car. Each conflict, in its own realistic, funny way, is a stand-off. ""Sam is angry. Dumb doggie./ Doggie is angry. Grr."" Then Doggie chases Sam, Mommy scolds him, Sam gets another cookie, and Doggie (wordlessly) gets a bone. A quietly happy outcome all around. As for Sam and Lisa, both in turn ""hurt,"" cry, and--when ""Mommy brings another car""--beam. The natty wind-up: ""Toot, says Lisa's car. Toot, toot, says Sam's car."" Sam's Teddy Bear is slightly more complicated and oblique--and less a story than an incident. But it also has an engaging bit of silent parallelism: while Sam, in bed, kisses, licks, and bites Teddy Bear, Doggie, on the floor alongside, does the same with Sam's slippers. Then, ""Sam throws Teddy Bear""--who ""falls into the pottie"" (presumably empty, though we're not told), from which Doggie extracts him and returns him to a grateful Sam. With every emotion clearly telegraphed (Doggie has, if anything, a larger repertoire of expressions than Sam), these rudimentary tales have considerable story-content.

Pub Date: Aug. 25, 1982

ISBN: 688-01263-9

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1982

Categories: CHILDREN'S