Zooman Sam (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Sam Krupnik) [School & Library Binding]

Lois Lowry (Author), Diane De Groat (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Sam Krupnik

THIS EDITION IS INTENDED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. 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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4 Four-year-old Sam Krupnik longs for recognition and a moment in the spotlight. Fortunately, he has an understanding and patient family so that when he decides to be a zookeeper for Future Job Day at his nursery school, his mother stitches up a uniform and his older sister, Anastasia, provides 30 hats, each with an animal's name on it (Cubs, Gaitors, Lions, etc.), donated by her friend's sportscaster father. Sam also has an understanding teacher who uses the boy's lengthy presentation to discuss one animal each day and to read an appropriate book. In the process of choosing his hat for each day and talking about the animals, Sam has learned to read, and impressing others doesn't matter that much any longer. Another visit with the Krupniks is time well spent, for they are uncomplicated, funny, and unpretentious. A few black-and-white drawings are scattered throughout and add to the fun. Great as a read-alone, or as a read-aloud to younger children. Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

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. (Fiction. 7-12) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• School & Library Binding: 155 pages
• Publisher: Turtleback (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061335480X
• ISBN-13: 978-0613354806
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,978,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More 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

author interview
A CONVERSATION WITH LOIS LOWRY ABOUT THE GIVER

Q. When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

A. I cannot remember ever not wanting to be a writer.

Q. What inspired you to write The Giver?

A. Kids always ask what inspired me to write a particular book or how did I get an idea for a particular book, and often it's very easy to answer that because books like the Anastasia books come from a specific thing; some little event triggers an idea. But a book like The Giver is a much more complicated book, and therefore it comes from much more complicated places--and many of them are probably things that I don't even recognize myself anymore, if I ever did. So it's not an easy question to answer.

I will say that the whole concept of memory is one that interests me a great deal. I'm not sure why that is, but I've always been fascinated by the thought of what memory is and what it does and how it works and what we learn from it. And so I think probably that interest of my own and that particular subject was the origin, one of many, of The Giver.

Q. How did you decide what Jonas should take on his journey?

A. Why does Jonas take what he does on his journey? He doesn't have much time when he sets out. He originally plans to make the trip farther along in time, and he plans to prepare for it better. But then, because of circumstances, he has to set out in a very hasty fashion. So what he chooses is out of necessity. He takes food because he needs to survive. He takes the bicycle because he needs to hurry and the bike is faster than legs. And he takes the baby because he is going out to create a future. And babies always represent the future in the same way children represent the future to adults. And so Jonas takes the baby so the baby's life will be saved, but he takes the baby also in order to begin again with a new life.

Q. When you wrote the ending, were you afraid some readers would want more details or did you want to leave the ending open to individual interpretation?

A. Many kids want a more specific ending to The Giver. Some write, or ask me when they see me, to spell it out exactly. And I don't do that. And the reason is because The Giver is many things to many different people. People bring to it their own complicated beliefs and hopes and dreams and fears and all of that. So I don't want to put my own feelings into it, my own beliefs, and ruin that for people who create their own endings in their minds.

Q. Is it an optimistic ending? Does Jonas survive?

A. I will say that I find it an optimistic ending. How could it not be an optimistic ending, a happy ending, when that house is there with its lights on and music is playing? So I'm always kind of surprised and disappointed when some people tell me that they think the boy and the baby just die. I don't think they die. What form their new life takes is something I like people to figure out for themselves. And each person will give it a different ending. I think they're out there somewhere and I think that their life has changed and their life is happy, and I would like to think that's true for the people they left behind as well.

Q. In what way is your book Gathering Blue a companion to The Giver?

A. Gathering Blue postulates a world of the future, as The Giver does. I simply created a different kind of world, one that had regressed instead of leaping forward technologically as the world of The Giver has. It was fascinating to explore the savagery of such a world. I began to feel that maybe it coexisted with Jonas's world . . . and that therefore Jonas could be a part of it in a tangential way. So there is a reference to a boy with light eyes at the end of Gathering Blue. He can be Jonas or not, as you wish.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, April 9, 2002

By 

Mason Catt (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zooman Sam (Sam Krupnik) (Paperback)

This was a hillarious comedy of a 4 year olds life. It starts out when his pre-school teacher announces that they will be having a future job day in the upcoming week. Sam decides that he will be a Zoo Keeper like Jake in his Zoo book. His mom makes him a Zoo keeper outfit that says Zooman Sam right on top. His sister Anastasia borrowed some baseball caps of animals from her un-boyfriend. His teacher and he decide that he will wear one cap every day. But when he used every cap in his bag except for the scary ones what will he do?!? Can Sam be a Zoo man forever!?!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Read aloud for younger kids, August 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Zooman Sam (Sam Krupnik) (Paperback)

Sam is a preschool boy who doesn't know how to dress for Future Jobs Day. He finally decides to dress like a zookeeper, his favorite character in his book. His mother stitches "Zooman Sam" on a one-piece pajama set of Sam's and his older sister borrows lots of caps with animal mascots for his hat. Since Sam only has time to show his class one hat, his teacher lets him continue wearing a different hat each day, and Sam works to decode the animal names on his hats. Nothing wrong with the story, but I have a hard time seeing how this story would appeal to "9-12 year olds," as the age recommendation above suggests. This book would be best used as a read-aloud for preschool through 2nd graders who are good listeners and don't require as many illustrations. (Another book of this type would be the Russell and Elisa books by Hoban.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zooman Sam Book Review, May 3, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Zooman Sam (Sam Krupnik) (Hardcover)

Have you ever wondered what you wanted to be when you grow up? Well Sam already has to figure out what he is going to be when he grows up. Sam Krupnik is a preschooler who wants to be something other than a fireman. All the other boys are going to be firemen when they grow up. Sam talks about all kinds of animals while he is wearing different animal hats. After school each day he has to train his dog named Sleuth. That is why Zooman Sam is such a GREAT book. Can he keep talking about a different animal each day? Can he train his dog? You'll have to read Zooman Sam by Lois Lowry to find out.