Recommended Ages: Gr. 3-5

Plot Summary:
Ch 1 - Sam is born and discovers the what it feels like to belong to a family.
Ch 2 - Sam learns new things, such as how to communicate with his family, walk, and talk.
Ch 3 - Sam learns that a toilet leads the water outside and through the water cycle into rain again and wants it to rain items he tries to flush.
Ch 4 - Sam think that being trained is related to choo-choo trains not potty training.
Ch 5 - Sam and his family move from their apartment to a new house but Sam doesn't like his big empty room at first.
Ch 6 - Sam starts nursery school where he thinks he's going to learn to be a nurse.
Ch 7 - Sam really wants something from the candy aisle at the grocery store and ends up stealing a pack of gum.
Ch 8 - Sam wants a pet and chooses a pet worm because his dad is allergic to everything else.
Ch 9 - Sam brings his pet worm named King to the pet show at the public library.
Ch 10 - Sam doesn't know what to bring to show-and-tell and ends up bringing his dad's pipes.
Ch 11 - Sam doesn't like his curls and wants spikey hair like another kid in his class and cuts his hair.
Ch 12 - Sam asks why he doesn't call his parents by their first names or why they don't call him son. Sam also wants to be big and strong so he tries to pump iron.
Ch 13 - Sam hangs out with his sister and his very old neighbor and learns morse code from Gertrudestein.

Setting: unknown

Characters:
Sam Krupnik - starts when he is 5 hours old, ends when he is 3 y/o
Anastasia Krupnik - Sam's older sister by 10 years, loves her brother
Katherine Krupnik - Sam and Anastasia's mom
Myron Krupnik - Sam and Anastasia's dad
Adam - Sam's friend when they're 3 y/o
Gertrude Stein - Sam's next-door neighbor, very old, makes cookies

Recurring Themes: childhood, family, confusion, pets, misunderstanding, childhood innocence, terrible twos

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: Each chapter is like a short story. There is no overall plot or problem to the story, but there are minor problems within each chapter. It was a cute, interesting read especially since I am currently pregnant and it was from the perspective of a baby who is not being understood because all he can do is cry, but definitely not suspenseful.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: medium
Characters: told from perspective of baby in first chapter
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

A hysterical story told from the perspective of a little boy from birth to age 2. This story will make you laugh out loud as he continues to get into mischief! From trying to make goldfish rain to hiding food under the carpet, this book will keep you in stitches! Mrs. B. ( )

Sam gives us the story of his life from age birth to about four. He is a spunky kid who enjoys discovering the world around him and playing with his big sister, Anastasia. This book is an easy ready and I feel it has no purpose to it other than pure enjoyment. It's a cute story, but doesn't have a real plot. ( )

I was actually looking for The Giver, but the library didn't have it. I read this book when I was a kid and remembered how insightful it was, in terms of how little kids think. I think it probably helped when I became a preschool teacher. Anyway, it was nice to read it again. ( )

I read this book aloud to my class. This year I didn't get to finish it since I had Luciana early! First graders love this book. The can relate to Sam and remember themselves as a baby or their siblings.