Good Night Sam

Description

32 pages
$14.95
ISBN 0-88899-530-X
DDC jC813'.54

Publisher

Year

2003

Contributor

Reviewed by Patricia Morley

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University. She is the author of several books, including The
Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret
Laurence: The Long Journey Home.

Review

Fear of the dark is a stubborn antagonist, which Marie-Louise Gay
defeats with fantasy and humour.

Sam can’t sleep without Fred, his beloved soft-toy dog, and Fred has
gone missing. So Sam turns to his older sister, Stella, for help, and
they start searching throughout the house. Stella suggests that they
look in the closet, but Fred’s not there. Then she suggests that they
look outside, but Sam insists that Fred wouldn’t be there either
because he’s afraid of the dark. After much worrying and fretting on
Sam’s part and continual reassuring words from Stella, the children,
tired, return to bed without Fred, only to find him “sleeping” under
Sam’s quilt. The next problem for Sam is Fred’s loud snoring.
“‘Goodnight Sam,’ sigh[s] Stella.”

Gay’s gentle watercolour illustrations of nighttime are rendered in
shadowy purples and blues, underscoring Sam’s fear of the dark.
What’s amusing is Sam’s bright golden spiked hair and Stella’s
flaming red mass, which stand out like beacons in the dark. Another
amusing element is that Fred is semi-hidden in the illustrations, and
young readers will have fun trying to find him. Highly recommended.

Citation

Gay, Marie-Louise., “Good Night Sam,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed November 3, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/23926.