Reviews for Sam and Emma

The average rating for Sam and Emma based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-08-02 00:00:00 Kevin Gaudreault 1.5ish stars. An old-fashioned sort of picture book with a particularly preachy message that still doesn't quite hit home. The cadence of the rhyming was inconsistent and I can tell that it would be awkward to read aloud, not knowing which lines were supposed to rhyme and which ones weren't. Some rhyming pairs were embedded in the middle of a line, some ended on the next page and many lines didn't have a rhyming pair at all. I'm kind of a snob with children's books expecting them to rhyme, so at least try to have some semblance of consistency or predictability! That's one of the ways kids gain phonological awareness- hearing repetitious phrases and learning to recognize rhyming pairs. The intended message was honorable in theory but sort of a dud in execution. There's a bigoted cat who is friends with a dog who is kind and respectful to other animals. The dog tries to teach the cat that it's okay to have differences and just because someone isn't like you doesn't mean they're any better or worse. The cat continues to act like a douche to the dog and the other animals and eventually decides that if it's okay for other animals to be different, then it's okay for her to continue being herself: a douchey, hateful, judgmental cat. Not quite the message I was expecting. The illustrations were cute and simple in a retro kind of way (book was originally published in 1971) with a palatable watercolored look. There's really nothing dynamic about the characters, though, and their expressions are unchangeable whether the text describes them as happy, sad, frustrated, or psychotically self-absorbed (I read between the lines there). Not something I would select or recommend for classroom or personal use. Illustrations: 2 Text: 1.5

Review # 2 was written on 2020-01-03 00:00:00 Jay Vendubois LOVE LOVE LOVE ! Sam ( dog ) and Emma ( cat ) are besties. Emma is intolerant of other animals because they act or eat in different ways from her. Sam tries to instruct on accepting the other animals choices. Wonderful illustrations by Gorey !