Sam & Dave Dig a Hole

Illustrated by Jon Klassen

Sam and Dave are digging a hole, and they will not stop until they find something spectacular.

A New York Times Bestseller

★ Winner of the Caldecott Honor ★

★ Winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award ★

★ Winner of the Irma Black Award ★

★ A New York Times Notable Book ★

★ A Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2014 ★

★ A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of 2014 ★

★ A Kirkus Best Book of 2014 ★

★ A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2014 ★

“Mind-blowing in the best possible way.”

The Horn Book

, Starred Review

“Poor Sam and Dave. Lucky readers.”

Kirkus Reviews

, Starred Review

“Barnett and Klassen dangle the prospect of fantastic subterranean treasure before readers, but leave them with an even greater reward: a tantalizingly creepy and open-ended conclusion.”

Publishers Weekly

, Starred Review

“Get ready to add another favorite to your collection.”

Quill & Quire

, Starred Review

“A carefully choreographed interplay between Mac Barnett’s straight-faced text and Caldecott-winner Jon Klassen’s stylized illustrations.”

The Washington Post

“Mr. Barnett’s economical text works in droll counterpoint with illustrations that become subtly surreal.”

Wall Street Journal

“The beauty of this story is that it articulates something kids seem to intuitively know, but can’t really explain with language.”

Globe and Mail

“This book is deadpan and dead-awesome.”

BuzzFeed

“Clever.”

The New York Times Book Review

Cover of Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, a children's book by Mac Barnett.

Inside the book