Sams Sneaker Search - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 2. A wacky assortment of animals is involved in this saga of a missing sneaker, but the book is not strong in either language or plot. The author launches into fantasy mode on the second page: "No sneaker under the bed, just a shaggy lion playing with the dust mice." A new animal is revealed in each place Samantha looks for her shoe. The double-page illustrations of the animals are delightful: large, bright, expressive, and humorous. Samantha herself is less skillfully drawn. The text simply speeds through a litany of creatures, describing their activities ("penguins skating on the Jell-O"). Other than trying to wrest herself or her toy penguin away from the various animals, Samantha's interaction with them is minimal. Deborah Guarino's Is Your Mama a Llama? (Scholastic, 1989) is a better structured story, and Chris Riddell's The Trouble with Elephants (HarperCollins, 1990) is one of many in which a child has a funny adventure with animals in her home. For stories of lost objects, Berniece Rabe's Where's Chimpy? (Albert Whitman, 1988) is more compelling. However, Fuge's illustrations redeem Sam's Sneaker Search enough for it to be an additional title for preschool storytimes.?Darla Remple, Worcester Public Library, MA
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