Bookseller Fiona Hardy recently interviewed her two-year-old daughter Rocket about a picture book they’d read together: Sam & Dave Dig a Hole. Here’s Fiona on what went down.
A lot of the time, customers ask if Klassen’s slightly edgy work is really for children or more for parents (I bought my first of his books before I had a kid). But my two-year-old has always loved his books, even if she doesn’t understand some of the concepts, such as bears telling lies (I Want My Hat Back) or inter-dimensional travel (Sam and Dave Dig A Hole).
In Sam and Dave Dig A Hole, the two go out one day with their dog and start digging, missing epic underground prizes by inches. After several hilarious wrong-turns, Sam and Dave fall through the earth and come out the other side… seemingly back to where they started, but - to the eagle-eyed - ever so slightly different.
We’ve read it over and over so much that I was curious about what Rocket was getting out of it.
Me: Do you like this book?
Her: Yeah.
Me: Why do you like it?
Her: Because it has Sam and Dave.
Me: And what do Sam and Dave do?
Her: Dig.
Me: What happened when they split up?
Her: They missed the diamond!
Me: Oh, they kept missing out, didn’t they? Do you feel a bit sad for Sam and Dave that they keep missing out on diamonds?
Her: [nods sadly]
Me: They don’t find diamonds, but what do they find?
Her: A bone!
Me: And what else happens?
Her: Fall!
Me: They fall? Oh no! Where do they fall to?
Her: In the house… and now there’s a duck and a red poppy and a cat with a blue collar!
Me: Did they land in the same place?
Her: The collar is blue!
Me: Did they change or is it a different place?
Her: It’s a pear tree! (At the start of the book) Walking to digging and I saw apple tree, and a chicken and a cat with a red one and there’s a red flower too.
Me: What’s your favourite thing about this book?
Her: Um… Sam and Dave dig!
Me: Is it a funny book?
Her: Yeah.
Me: What’s your favourite page?
Her: With the cat with the blue! (The last page)
Me: So your favourite page is the one where they go into the different house?
Her: Yeah.
Me: Anything else you’d like to say about Sam and Dave?
Her: No, that’s it.
Me: Do you like the pictures or the words?
Her: The pic… the words.
Me: Would you like to read more books by the same people?
Her: Yeah!
Me: Thank you for your interview, kiddo! I love you.
Her: I love you too!
[hugs]
