Zooman Sam - by Lois Lowry (Paperback)

About the Book

Four-year-old Sam's appearance as a zookeeper at his nursery school's Future Job Day leads him to a number of exciting activities and discoveries, including reading.

Book Synopsis

It's Future Job Day at Sam's nursery school, and Sam decides to dress up as a Zookeeper. But he wants to be more than that... he wants to be important, interesting, and more than ordinary: the Chief of Wonderfulness. Will he find a way to be the Chief of Wonderfulness as he teaches his classmates about all the different animals? Hilarious and charming, Zooman Sam is perfect for readers new and old, and for anyone who still asks themselves the question: "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

How does one little boy turn a pair of old pajamas into the best costume of all?

• A Heartwarming School Story: Join Sam at nursery school on Future Job Day where the pressure is on to have the coolest costume and be the "Chief of Wonderfulness."
• Family Problem Solving: When Sam has nothing to wear, his loving and hilarious family helps him turn a pair of old pajamas into the perfect zookeeper suit.
• Sibling Shenanigans: Featuring the beloved Anastasia Krupnik as Sam's older sister, who helps him solve his biggest problems with wit and style.
• The Magic of Learning to Read: A perfect book for early readers that sneakily celebrates the moment a child discovers they can read all by themselves.

Review Quotes

It's Future Job Day at Sam's nursery school, and not only has his mom made him a "Zooman Sam" jumpsuit, his sister Anastasia has acquired for him a whole mess of sports caps with such fitting logos as Tigers and Cubs. In a class filled with future firefighters, Sam's zookeeping aspirations really stand out, and he's especially thrilled when his teacher tells him he can wear a different cap each day and tell the other children about each animal: "For six weeks he could stand in front of the circle and feel that feeling of being the most interesting person in the room." This is a slender thread on which to hang an entire novel, but Lowry spins interesting variations on her theme, and the book ends with a swell (and well-prepared) surprise. Sam remains every middle-grader's little brother; parents, too, will be amused.

Horn Book

"For ``Future Job Day'' at Sam Krupnik's nursery school, the four-year-olds have been instructed to dress up as representatives of their desired profession. Sam doesn't want to be a fireman, as do all the other boys in his class. Instead he wants to be ``somebody important, somebody interesting, somebody more than ordinary, '' a secret concept he privately and quite marvelously dubs ``the Chief of Wonderfulness.'' With the assistance of his impossibly even-tempered mother and ever-helpful sister, Anastasia, Sam dresses up in a spiffy homemade zookeeper's costume. Sam's teacher allows Sam to tell his class about a different zoo animal every day, a privilege that he finds both thrilling and challenging. The plotting is leisurely, the story is slender, and a subplot about the training of the family dog barely registers. This cast of familiar characters isn't as vibrant as usual, and the material runs out of steam before the novel ends. Fans of the Sam books may find satisfaction in the nicely foreshadowed but still unanticipated punch line." Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After several years at Brown University, she turned to her family and to writing. She is the author of more than thirty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader's Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, NUMBER THE STARS and THE GIVER. Her first novel, A SUMMER TO DIE, was awarded the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award. Ms. Lowry now divides her time between Cambridge and an 1840s farmhouse in Maine. To learn more about Lois Lowry, see her website at www.loislowry.com