Shrinking Sam

by Miriam Latimer

What if your pencil was the size of a crocodile, or just one pea filled your whole tummy? And what if NO ONE would listen to you? Well, that's what happens to Sam. What will stop him from disappearing altogether?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Lexi Goehring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam is a boy who believes he is shrinking. He tells his mom and she ignores him, then he goes to school and the same thing happens. Throughout the day, he gets smaller and smaller until he falls down the drain. There he meets Izzy who explains that she shrinks too when her family ignores her and he realizes that is what happened to him. Sam gets back to his house with the help of Izzy where his sister, dog and parents give him love and attention causing him to go back to normal.

The overall theme of this book is love and feeling loved. Sam doesn't feel loved or important when everyone around him ignores him but at the end, knows he is loved by his parents regardless of temporary doubts.

When I read this, I found myself feeling really bad for him. Feeling unimportant, unloved and unheard is something really hard to experience especially by those who are supposed to love you. Some kids experience it everyday and it just made me realize how fortunate I am to have a family who loves me.

While I did get a good lesson from this book, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it because I think the lesson should have been with the parents. It was good to know that he knows he is loved no matter what but I think that the parents need to get some type of consequence or there needs to be some type of defining moment where they reassure him that they don't feel that way at all.

[Maria Andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
Sam is a boy who is sometimes ignored by his family members. Each time he is ignored, Sam shrinks a little bit. Over the course of the day, he got ignored by his family members, and at school, so he shrunk even more. He became so small that he fell down the drain, were he met a little girl that shrunk just like him. As they started talking and caring for each other, they began to grow and grow. By the time Sam got home, his family was looking for him, and they were all very happy to see him. He was so loved, that he grew and grew until he was even bigger than his parents.

Theme: Kids need love and attention, and they can quickly feel bad about themselves when they feel lonely.

Personal Response: I have friends who sometimes were ignored at home, and they always appreciated their friendships even more.

Recommend: I recommend this book because I think it teaches children to be kind to one another, and siblings to care for their brothers/sisters.

[Sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written a really nice way. It showed how other people can help brighten another persons day just by lending a listening ear.

[Kaylee Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: Miriam Latimer
Illustrator:
ISBN-13:9781846860386

Summary: When people ignore Sam and don't pay attention to him he shrinks. As the day goes on he becomes so small that no one can see him. To stop shrinking Sam must receive love and attention.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great way to introduce young children to their feelings. Sam becomes smaller and smaller as he goes through his day, feeling ignored and dismissed by the bigger people around him. But he learns that it happens to others and that its okay. A few doses of love and caring from his family makes him feel like a giant!

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book! This is a great self-esteem book and it would be so fun to read with props or have the students act it out. It's about a little boy who gets smaller every time he's ignored, but he meets a friend who is going through the same thing.

[Geni · Rating 4 out of 5]

dealing with shared feelings