Other editions
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett (Paper Book)
Contents
https://archive.org/details/samdavedighole0000barn
Spanish version:
Sam y Leo Cavan un Hoyo
https://archive.org/details/samyleocavanunho0000barn
From the dust jacket
Sam and Dave
are digging a hole,
and they will not stop
until they find
something
spectacular.
KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW
When Sam and Dave dig a hole, readers get “something spectacular.”
The boys, on the other hand, do not. Their quest to find the spectacular brings them painfully and humorously close to buried jewels as they spade their way into the ground, accompanied by an intrepid canine companion. Readers occupy a superior position as cross-section illustrations reveal those jewels buried just out of the shovels’ reach. Each time they near one, the increasingly grubby boys maddeningly change course. On they dig, tunneling in different directions, and each effort reveals (to readers) yet larger jewels evading them. Exhausted, they fall asleep, but the dog digs after a bone it senses below. In an unexpected turn, the ground gives way to nothingness, and the trio falls through empty space “until they landed in the soft dirt.” At first glance, it seems they’ve ended up where they began: A small tree stands on the recto, and a house with a porch is on the verso, as before. But careful readers will notice that the tree here bears pears, while the tree at the story’s start had apples. Other differing details (a weathervane duck instead of a chicken; a blue flower instead of a red one; a blue cat collar instead of a red) suggest that they’ve unwittingly fallen into another dimension.
Poor Sam and Dave. Lucky readers. (Picture book. 4-8)
-- https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mac-barnett/sam-and-dave-dig-a-hole/
Spanish version:
Sam y Leo Cavan un Hoyo
https://archive.org/details/samyleocavanunho0000barn
From the dust jacket
Sam and Dave
are digging a hole,
and they will not stop
until they find
something
spectacular.
KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW
When Sam and Dave dig a hole, readers get “something spectacular.”
The boys, on the other hand, do not. Their quest to find the spectacular brings them painfully and humorously close to buried jewels as they spade their way into the ground, accompanied by an intrepid canine companion. Readers occupy a superior position as cross-section illustrations reveal those jewels buried just out of the shovels’ reach. Each time they near one, the increasingly grubby boys maddeningly change course. On they dig, tunneling in different directions, and each effort reveals (to readers) yet larger jewels evading them. Exhausted, they fall asleep, but the dog digs after a bone it senses below. In an unexpected turn, the ground gives way to nothingness, and the trio falls through empty space “until they landed in the soft dirt.” At first glance, it seems they’ve ended up where they began: A small tree stands on the recto, and a house with a porch is on the verso, as before. But careful readers will notice that the tree here bears pears, while the tree at the story’s start had apples. Other differing details (a weathervane duck instead of a chicken; a blue flower instead of a red one; a blue cat collar instead of a red) suggest that they’ve unwittingly fallen into another dimension.
Poor Sam and Dave. Lucky readers. (Picture book. 4-8)
-- https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mac-barnett/sam-and-dave-dig-a-hole/
Description
Sam and Dave are sure they will discover something exciting if they just keep digging their hole.
Awards
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (Picture Books — 2014)
Caldecott Medal (Honor Book — 2015)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Finalist — Picturebook — 2016)
Monarch Award (Nominee — 2018)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Grades K-3 — 2016)
Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award (Nominee — Grades K-2 — 2016)
California Young Reader Medal (Nominee — 2017)
Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration (Nominee — 2016)
Golden Archer Award (Nominee — Primary — 2016)
Colorado Children's Book Award (Nominee — 2016)
The White Ravens (2015)
Irma Black Award (Contender — 2015)
E.B. White Read-Aloud Award (Winner — Picture Book — 2015)
Wanda Gág Read Aloud Book Award (Winner — 2015)
Iowa Goldfinch Award (Nominee — 2017)
CCBC Choices (2015)
Read Aloud Indiana Book Award (Primary — 2016)
The Best Children's Books of the Year (Five to Nine — 2015)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (Fiction — 2014)
Notable Children's Book (2015)
Nerdy Book Award (2014)
Great Texas Mosquito List (K-2 — 2017)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Kids (Picture Books — 2014)