5. Sam, Bangs & Moonshine

Title: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine
Author/Illustrator: Evaline Ness
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Copyright Date: 1966
Number of Pages: 35
Reading Level: 8+
Genre: Fantasy/Drama

Summary
Sam is a girl who tells a lot of lies. Her mother is a mermaid, she has a pet lion and kangaroo and the ragged rug in her house is a chariot drawn by dragons. Sam has a friend named Thomas who believes every tale that Sam tells. Sam tells Thomas every time he comes to visit that her kangaroo has just stepped out and she tells him where the kangaroo went and Thomas goes there. One day Sam sends Thomas to a rock where her mother, the mermaid, lives. Bangs, her cat, tells her that the rock would be buried in the tide early that day. Sam went on day dreaming and Bangs went after Thomas. Later a storm comes in and Sam realizes what she’s done. Her father comes home and she tells him what happened and he rushes out to find Thomas. When he returns home he tells Sam that Bangs was gone and he found Thomas. Father tells Sam to go to her room and figure out the difference between real and moonshine. She goes to her room and decides what’s real and what’s not. Bangs scratches at the window and Sam is happy that she has what is real, Bangs, her dad and Thomas. The next day Sam’s dad brings home a gerbil that looks like a baby kangaroo. Sam decides to give the gerbil to Thomas and says his name is Moonshine.

Recommendation
I would recommend this book to any child learning to read or to any child who has a problem with lying. This reminds me of the boy who cried wolf. It’s a fun read and has a good message.

Problems/Conflict
The hardest thing might be the word flummadiddle and then understanding what moonshine is.

My Reaction
I love the pictures and how well they go along with the story. The watercolors really show the rainy and wet nature of living near the sea and is very expressive of the story. I also like that everything was quite accurate to the story line, it said there were two cows and twenty-five sheep and in the pictures there were just that many. I think my mom got me this book when I was little because I liked to tell moonshine quite often too.