Sam Goes to School (Kids Can Start to Read, Level 1)

Mary Labatt is an editor and writer. She is the author of the Dog Detective Sam mystery series, the Sam and Friends graphic mystery novels, the Puppy Sam level one early readers and a novel called A Puppy is for Loving. With all these dog books you can guess what Mary does on her Clear Creek, Ontario farm. She breeds and raises Rough Collies and Welsh Springer Spaniels. In the picture you can see Mary with two of her collie mothers, Annabel and Chloe.

Reviewed with Mary Labatt's Sam Gets Lost.

PreS. A white, fluffy puppy is the star of these two entries in the Kids Can Read series. In Lost, Sam takes a ride with his owners, Joan and Bob, but decides there's more fun going on outside the car and escapes. He enjoys nosing around, but then he realizes Joan and Bob are lost. There's some slight adventure before his owners find him--or vice versa. In School, Sam once again takes a powder, this time heading onto a school bus, which takes him to class. Although the plots of these books are nothing special, the volumes do engender a friendly feeling. Sam looks more like a stuffed animal than a real dog, but the softly colored paintings work nicely in conjunction with the words and will keep kids turning pages. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved