What do you think?
Rate this book
Sam & Eva
Harold and the Purple Crayon meets Tom and Jerry in this sweet and funny picture book about a boy and girl who must balance their creativity and figure out how to cooperate after their drawings come to life.
When Sam starts drawing a super cool velociraptor, Eva decides to join in. But Sam isn’t too happy about the collaboration. Soon Eva and Sam are locked in an epic creative clash, bringing to life everything from superhero marmots to exploding confetti. But when their masterpieces turn to mayhem, will Sam stay stubbornly solo or will he realize that sometimes the best work comes from teamwork?
When Sam starts drawing a super cool velociraptor, Eva decides to join in. But Sam isn’t too happy about the collaboration. Soon Eva and Sam are locked in an epic creative clash, bringing to life everything from superhero marmots to exploding confetti. But when their masterpieces turn to mayhem, will Sam stay stubbornly solo or will he realize that sometimes the best work comes from teamwork?
40 pages, Hardcover
First published October 17, 2017
457 people want to read
About the author
Debbie Ridpath Ohi
23 books218 followersDebbie Ridpath Ohi is a children's book author and illustrator who lives in Toronto, Canada. She is the author and illustrator of Where Are My Books?, Sam & Eva, and the upcoming I Want To Read ALL The Books (Simon & Schuster Books For young Readers). Her writing and/or illustrations have appeared in over 20 books for young people, including titles by Michael Ian Black, Judy Blume, Linda Sue Park, and others. You can find out more about Debbie and her work at DebbieOhi.com .
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
November 12, 2017
This is simply a fun read, which lets imagination flow and humor leap from every page.
Sam is coloring away when Eva wants to join in, but their pictures don't harmonize. Soon, Sam's monsters are defeating Eva's creations with every flip of the page. Although Sam's sure this will lead to his creations' domination, the result isn't exactly what he had hoped.
This book got high marks from all of my kids, and I can only agree. Imagination and the fun of drawing head this tale the entire way through. Every crayon mark lets something come to life, not perfect but full of possibility and personality. Eva and Sam scribble away with Sam always trying to get the extra edge—as siblings or playmates often do. Eva counters, holding on to her own ideas as the battle mounts and mounts. It's funny, it's imaginative and the situation is easy to sympathize with. Every page brings something new and unexpected, and reels the reader right in.
The illustrations make this book. They aren't complex, but rather stick to simplicity. The concentration is on the drawings, and each one is how a kid would create it. But these creations act on their own accord. The written text becomes the beginning basis for everything that unfolds in the illustrations. It's the kind of book to make kids laugh and giggle, and still pick up on their own and flip through over and over again.
There is a message, and it melds seamlessly with the fun. Even the ending is sure to draw a smirk and a laugh before kids will demand to hear/see the entire tale again.
I received a complimentary copy and since my kids claimed this book and refuse to let it go, I wanted to tell the world my honest thoughts and let them know how fun a tale it is.
Sam is coloring away when Eva wants to join in, but their pictures don't harmonize. Soon, Sam's monsters are defeating Eva's creations with every flip of the page. Although Sam's sure this will lead to his creations' domination, the result isn't exactly what he had hoped.
This book got high marks from all of my kids, and I can only agree. Imagination and the fun of drawing head this tale the entire way through. Every crayon mark lets something come to life, not perfect but full of possibility and personality. Eva and Sam scribble away with Sam always trying to get the extra edge—as siblings or playmates often do. Eva counters, holding on to her own ideas as the battle mounts and mounts. It's funny, it's imaginative and the situation is easy to sympathize with. Every page brings something new and unexpected, and reels the reader right in.
The illustrations make this book. They aren't complex, but rather stick to simplicity. The concentration is on the drawings, and each one is how a kid would create it. But these creations act on their own accord. The written text becomes the beginning basis for everything that unfolds in the illustrations. It's the kind of book to make kids laugh and giggle, and still pick up on their own and flip through over and over again.
There is a message, and it melds seamlessly with the fun. Even the ending is sure to draw a smirk and a laugh before kids will demand to hear/see the entire tale again.
I received a complimentary copy and since my kids claimed this book and refuse to let it go, I wanted to tell the world my honest thoughts and let them know how fun a tale it is.
February 17, 2018
Two kids have drawing wars until the drawings get out of hand. They have to draw an escape route and change their drawings.
September 30, 2019
Loved the illustrations and plot. Highly recommended.
November 24, 2017
Super cute story about telling a story through drawing the pictures and learning how to work as a team.
November 28, 2017
Sam & Eva by Debbie Ridpath Ohi and published by Simon and Schuster Canada is a cute little story about letting your imagination run wild.
Magical things can happen when you put pen (or crayon, marker, pastel, etc) to paper. When you collaborate with friends, even more magic is released into the world. Sam begins to draw what looks like a pony but is in fact a velociraptor. Eva joins in the fun and a story emerges. Unfortunately, that story gets somewhat out of hand. Thankfully, a door in the picture leads the way to a blank slate and a new story to tell.
Sam and Eva is a fantastic story about letting your imagination run wild, the benefit of a good collaboration, and a reminder that we are all storytellers, through our spoken words, pictures, and written words.
You really should follow Debbie Ridpath Ohi on Instagram @inkygirl. Her work is so inspiring and magical. She tells so many incredible stories through her Found Object Art. She has an beautiful collection of broken crayon art that is particularly wonderful.
Magical things can happen when you put pen (or crayon, marker, pastel, etc) to paper. When you collaborate with friends, even more magic is released into the world. Sam begins to draw what looks like a pony but is in fact a velociraptor. Eva joins in the fun and a story emerges. Unfortunately, that story gets somewhat out of hand. Thankfully, a door in the picture leads the way to a blank slate and a new story to tell.
Sam and Eva is a fantastic story about letting your imagination run wild, the benefit of a good collaboration, and a reminder that we are all storytellers, through our spoken words, pictures, and written words.
You really should follow Debbie Ridpath Ohi on Instagram @inkygirl. Her work is so inspiring and magical. She tells so many incredible stories through her Found Object Art. She has an beautiful collection of broken crayon art that is particularly wonderful.
July 25, 2018
I love it when the illustrations are essential to the story. Without seeing the pictures,
Sam & Eva
would be less engaging as a story, and in some cases, be misunderstood altogether. Because Debbie Ridpath Ohi is such an accomplished children’s book illustrator, the story she wrote and illustrated literally comes to life off the walls and interacts with the human characters and their environment. She has drawn Eva’s wall illustrations in a different style than Sam’s more basic drawings, but both sets are clear in their meanings. While Sam and Eva don’t always see eye to eye when interpreting each other’s drawings, they do find that even opposites can come together and work towards a common goal. Ending with a visual punchline makes the book even better!
August 28, 2017
Sam is not pleased that Eva wants to join him in drawing. It does not take long for a clash to ensue with both Sam and Eva drawing pictures to outwit the other’s imaginative artwork. Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s vivid and lively illustrations will captivate readers. In fact, the illustrations literally POP off the page! I especially love how the Sam’s and Eva’s drawn characters on the wall express emotions as the story unfolds.
When Eva decides that the story they created is not fun anymore, Sam is left with an artistic crisis that he cannot handle alone. Will Eva return to help Sam? Read to find out how the story ends. Sam and Eva is a great addition to any classroom, which it teaches students the value of teamwork and collaboration.
Thank you to Debbie Ridpath Ohi for providing our #bookexcursion group with a copy of Sam and Eva. It releases on October 17, 2017.
When Eva decides that the story they created is not fun anymore, Sam is left with an artistic crisis that he cannot handle alone. Will Eva return to help Sam? Read to find out how the story ends. Sam and Eva is a great addition to any classroom, which it teaches students the value of teamwork and collaboration.
Thank you to Debbie Ridpath Ohi for providing our #bookexcursion group with a copy of Sam and Eva. It releases on October 17, 2017.
December 30, 2018
I love the creativity and imagination in this story! I especially love the page where the characters’ ideas really start to flourish: "Marmot was actually a superhero in disguise." As a writer, you can really see how 'every word counts.' It's so cool to study the specific word choices and see how they bring out the character personalities.
As a teacher, I love to read this story to my kindergarten students to encourage them to tell stories using their drawings (except we can’t draw on the walls, as one boy in my class pointed out). Although I haven't suggested this, it would also be a fun story to practice retelling and I think I might try that the next time I read it with my students. They love retelling stories! The expressions on the character’s faces are great for talking about emotions, and this book is also perfect for starting a discussion about what it means to cooperate.
As a teacher, I love to read this story to my kindergarten students to encourage them to tell stories using their drawings (except we can’t draw on the walls, as one boy in my class pointed out). Although I haven't suggested this, it would also be a fun story to practice retelling and I think I might try that the next time I read it with my students. They love retelling stories! The expressions on the character’s faces are great for talking about emotions, and this book is also perfect for starting a discussion about what it means to cooperate.
December 18, 2019
Sam and Eva are both trying to make art--but they can't quite agree on what to make. Their argument is mirrored in their drawings, which come to life and act out their struggle. It's a creative, playful premise, cleverly executed by Ohi's simple but evocative illustration.
I suspect we will revisit this when my kid is older, because right now he's very literal-minded (he likes to inform me on page one of the Monster at the End of this Book that the monster's Grover and he doesn't understand why it's such a mystery), and Sam & Eva plays a bit with form and metaphor in a way that's lost on him. That said, he loves looking at and discussing the kids' expressions, and he likes the fun sense of chaos that evolves over the course of this book, so this is a good one if you have a spread of ages to entertain.
I suspect we will revisit this when my kid is older, because right now he's very literal-minded (he likes to inform me on page one of the Monster at the End of this Book that the monster's Grover and he doesn't understand why it's such a mystery), and Sam & Eva plays a bit with form and metaphor in a way that's lost on him. That said, he loves looking at and discussing the kids' expressions, and he likes the fun sense of chaos that evolves over the course of this book, so this is a good one if you have a spread of ages to entertain.
January 22, 2018
This beaufully drawn book tells the story of Sam and Eva as they draw with each other however, both want different things. How will they decide what to draw?
The illustrations in this book would have any child glued to the book and would keep them entertained for a while.
It would be an excellent book to read to a classroom full of children, as they can help describe the pictures and gives leads to other activities. Googling what's a marmot!! as we don't have them in the UK. pptttss they are small beavers looking things very cute.
This book really engaged my 6 year old daughter and it lead into Google session on American animals and dinosaurs.
I will most certainly be looking forward to any other books by this author.
The illustrations in this book would have any child glued to the book and would keep them entertained for a while.
It would be an excellent book to read to a classroom full of children, as they can help describe the pictures and gives leads to other activities. Googling what's a marmot!! as we don't have them in the UK. pptttss they are small beavers looking things very cute.
This book really engaged my 6 year old daughter and it lead into Google session on American animals and dinosaurs.
I will most certainly be looking forward to any other books by this author.
November 9, 2017
This clever picture book shows young readers how much fun collaboration and cooperation can be. Sam is enjoying himself drawing until Eva comes along and wants to draw with him. The stories that are shown through their art are competing and topping each other “dueling banjo” style. Each change in the story is for the better in a way that reminds me of Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka, until it gets out of hand. Young readers will enjoy seeing if these two can work things out. The digital illustrations show the characters Sam and Eva in black and white and their artwork in color, which makes the story pop even more. This would be a fun book to have on any elementary bookshelf.
November 20, 2017
This book is adorable! Sam and Eva are two friends who like to color and paint. One day Eva visits Sam and a picture war begins. Their wall drawings begin interacting until the mayhem is too much. Then, they draw a door in the wall, crawl through and begin on a clean white wall.
This book is full of imagination. Our two main characters are both done in black and white, while every thing they paint or color is bright and bold. Their characters come to life, reacting to each other and their drawer's moods. I enjoyed watching the story on the wall evolve and change and then when they draw a small door and go through the wall- priceless! 5 stars.
This book is full of imagination. Our two main characters are both done in black and white, while every thing they paint or color is bright and bold. Their characters come to life, reacting to each other and their drawer's moods. I enjoyed watching the story on the wall evolve and change and then when they draw a small door and go through the wall- priceless! 5 stars.
October 25, 2017
When Eva visits Sam he is busily drawing a velociraptor. Eager to join in she suggests a collaboration. Sam has his own ideas, but so does Eva. As they draw their story progresses to a colourful clash. Soon the drawing seems to come to life and they both loose control over the plot. With quick thinking, and drawing, they find themselves a new blank canvas and work together. Fun and funny drawings fill the pages as the children use their imagination to control the plot. This would be a great way to explain to young readers how to write and illustrate their own stories.
March 23, 2018
Sam starts drawing a picture of a velociraptor on the wall. Eva wants to draw, too, but Sam doesn't want her to join him. The two "battle" it out with markers, each drawing something to counteract what the other drew. Eva draws a marmot to balance out Sam's velociraptor. Sam doesn't like the marmot, so he has his velociraptor try to eat the marmot. Eva draws a big friend to protect the marmot. And, so it continues until Eva gets frustrated and doesn't want to draw anymore. Sam discovers it might not be so much fun to draw by himself.
August 28, 2017
Sam and Eva was a fun story about two children who saw things in different ways and weren't quite sure how to make that work when together. Through art and various challenges posed by the artwork, Sam and Eva found a way to create together so that both could be happy. I can't wait to share Sam and Eva with my class. Debbie Ohi has exceptional artistic ability and I am happy to see more of her writing here as well.
October 1, 2020
Eva sees Sam drawing. She joins in, but Sam is not excited about the help she brings to the drawing! At first the two disagree about what the other is drawing. Eventually Sam and Eva decide to collaborate putting both of their imaginations to work. While not always agreeing on how the story in their drawing is working, their drawing comes to life in a joint adventure. Eventually, each decides the other had good ideas!
Such a fun book about drawing, collaboration, imagination, and adventure!
Such a fun book about drawing, collaboration, imagination, and adventure!
November 26, 2017
Sam and Eva are drawing competing drawings on the walls. Then the drawings come to life.
I liked it...it was fairly cute. But I don't like the drawing on the walls aspect for a picture book. I feel like there would have to be a lot of explaining that while it's okay in the book, it's not okay in real life.
I liked it...it was fairly cute. But I don't like the drawing on the walls aspect for a picture book. I feel like there would have to be a lot of explaining that while it's okay in the book, it's not okay in real life.
January 22, 2018
Sam and Eva are artists. Sam likes to draw alone, Eva likes to paint with Sam. As they work side by side, their pictures tell a story of fighting and destruction. Finally, Eva paints a small escape hole for them in the wall, and Sam & Eva reappear in another room with clean undecorated walls. This time the tables are turned.
October 18, 2023
A classic in the tradition of Harold and the purple crayon. It’s about imagination, but here that’s the way into the tensions between friends. I love the layering of interaction between the characters through the drawings. And their drawings are so much fun. I’d love to see Debbie do more work in that style.
October 29, 2017
So much fun, and so much to look at! I was not expecting this book to go where it did, which made it even more fun to read. Much to notice in the illustrations, both of the kids and what they're drawing on the wall. Pair with Becker's Journey trilogy.
November 22, 2017
A clever story of creative conflict and co-operation that will be sure to delight budding artists who can watch the drawings take on personalities Sam and Eva never imagined. Like the creative “muse” in all of us…you never know where your pen - or brush – will take you. An absolute delight!
December 13, 2017
Great picture book! I would give this as a gift in a heartbeat as it is super fun and could create a lot of opportunities for play and discovery with things from the book... maybe better for kids who know that writing on the wall is not really a good idea.
December 23, 2017
Sam and Eva draw side by side and create an incredible story about a marmot and velociraptor. When the story gets a little too wild they draw something completely different. Well...almost. Enjoy Sam and Eva's adventures in this colorful book by Debbie Ridpath Ohi.
February 6, 2018
Oh, my, this book is absolutely adorable. And hilarious. I will definitely be purchasing for my collection. I think it would be really fun to do a collaborative art project with students after reading this book.
March 5, 2018
What a delightful story that highlights the challenges and struggles you can face through collaboration! But there is also beauty and creativity unleashed when we collaborate. Debbie Ohi’s art is always incredible.
March 30, 2018
Sam was drawing when Eva joined him and began adding her own ideas. He wasn't happy about how her ideas changed his and they had an art disagreement. When it seemed to get out of hand they figured out how to work together.
April 30, 2019
Drawing, imagination, friendship.
Sam wants to draw alone, but Eva wants to join him. Each drawing takes on a life of its own as their two imaginary worlds collide. When Eva decides this isn't fun anymore and leaves, Sam realizes that something is missing from the experience.
Sam wants to draw alone, but Eva wants to join him. Each drawing takes on a life of its own as their two imaginary worlds collide. When Eva decides this isn't fun anymore and leaves, Sam realizes that something is missing from the experience.
April 7, 2021
Learning how to work together through art. Seems like a great plot to me. The engagement comes from norms and archetypes in this book. Luka enjoyed it for a bit, but I am not sure he comprehended all the changes that were taken from page to page.
June 15, 2022
So cute!
Eva, excitedly, and Sam, reluctantly, build a story together through painting. Their constant one-upmanship, is hilarious, but eventually leads to hurt feelings. Then Eva forgives Sam, and they start a new story together.
Eva, excitedly, and Sam, reluctantly, build a story together through painting. Their constant one-upmanship, is hilarious, but eventually leads to hurt feelings. Then Eva forgives Sam, and they start a new story together.
July 12, 2017
This book is so creative! I love it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews