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498th out of 2,253 books
—
3,525 voters
Sam, Bangs & Moonshine
by
Evaline Ness
Samantha (known as Sam) is a fisherman’s daughter who dreams rich and lovely dreams--moonshine, her father says. But when her tall stories bring disaster to her friend Thomas and her cat Bangs, Sam learns to distinguish between moonshine and reality.
Sam, Bangs & Moonshine is the winner of the 1967 Caldecott Medal....more
Sam, Bangs & Moonshine is the winner of the 1967 Caldecott Medal....more
Paperback, 48 pages
Published
May 15th 1971
by Square Fish
(first published 1966)
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Jan 07, 2010
Lisa Vegan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
every child, especially children prone to lying and children who have lost a parent
Recommended to Lisa by:
Kathryn
Oh, I just loved this book. It’s amazing to me that it was first published in 1966 (and my library copy was the original hardcover 1966 edition) yet I’d never heard of it until I saw my Goodreads’ friend Kathryn’s review.
I loved the illustrations (admittedly old-fashioned at this point), I loved the cat Bangs, I loved the girl Sam, and I especially loved this story. It’s a wonderful story, with suspense (it did scare me there for a minute, but it does have a happy ending) and pathos and humor, t...more
I loved the illustrations (admittedly old-fashioned at this point), I loved the cat Bangs, I loved the girl Sam, and I especially loved this story. It’s a wonderful story, with suspense (it did scare me there for a minute, but it does have a happy ending) and pathos and humor, t...more
Ha! I just bought this today from the used bookstore around the way. I have to admit being a bit partial to it because the main character has my name.
Sam has to learn the difference between REAL and MOONSHINE in this book, and it's a scary lesson. But the best part is that after she figures out the difference, she gets to KEEP a little bit of moonshine (like the rug that is a chariot drawn by dragons) and also, she knows what is real that the people around her think is moonshine and keeps that,...more
Sam has to learn the difference between REAL and MOONSHINE in this book, and it's a scary lesson. But the best part is that after she figures out the difference, she gets to KEEP a little bit of moonshine (like the rug that is a chariot drawn by dragons) and also, she knows what is real that the people around her think is moonshine and keeps that,...more
Looking at the cover of this book, I had no firm idea what this book was really about. I concluded that it at least had something to do with a cat, but that was about it. In short, this story was so much more than that. It follows a little girl named Sam who has a very bad habit of telling lies, or moonshine. Her friend Thomas believes everything that she says and goes on adventures in search of the baby kangaroo. Eventually, these moonshines start hurting those around her and almost loses her b...more
This book is about Sam, the daughter of a local fisherman. Because he mother has passed, she pretends that her cat, Bangs, can talk in order to pass the time. She also pretends her mom is a mermaid and that she has a pet kangaroo. The tales that she is telling are untrue, which her father calls “moonshine.” Sam tells these “moonshine” stories to a friend, and he goes off looking for her mermaid mother. Of course, she does not exist, but Thomas gets caught up in a storm during the journey. Sam’s...more
Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine written and illustrated by Evaline Ness is an entertaining story of a young girl, Samantha (but everyone calls her Sam), with a vivid imagination. Sam claims to have a mermaid for a mother, own a pet lion, a baby kangaroo, and a talking cat. In her small fishing village everyone says she is always telling stories, her father calls is talking “moonshine”. One day Thomas, Sam’s neighbor is sent out looking for the baby kangaroo when a giant storm blows in. Bangs, Sam’s ta...more
Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine is a wonderful story set in a small fishing village. Evaline Ness, the author and illustrator, won the prestigious Caldecott Medal back in 1967 for her intriguing illustrations. Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine is a marvelous story in its own right, but it also is an excellent book to help your child understand the concept of reality versus imagination.
In the book the main character's father, a widowed fisherman, calls not being truthful moonshine. He tries to teach his mothe...more
In the book the main character's father, a widowed fisherman, calls not being truthful moonshine. He tries to teach his mothe...more
When I first picked up Sam, Bangs & Moonshine, I did not know what to expect. I think this was because the illustrations on the front did not have a clear theme. The illustrations throughout the book were more of a scribble style. By scribble style I mean there were not clean sharp lines. It left more room for the readers to use their imagination. The story was about a young girl, Sam who was always making up lies. Her father, who was a fisherman, tried telling her that telling lies can only...more
Oct 18, 2011
Elizabeth S
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
picture-books,
caldecott
You may want to read this one yourself before reading it to your kids. Not that there is anything questionable, but so you know the direction the story is going. I mis-anticipated a number of events. For example, at the very beginning we are introduced to a girl, Sam, who has a problem with lying. So I thought, "Great! Maybe this will help my kids learn the value of telling the truth." Now, I was thinking the "Yes I made my bed" when I really didn't kind of lying. But the book is talking about t...more
Sam, the main character in this book, is a highly imaginative girl who sees the world around her differently from most others. She sees magic and strange creatures, and is good friends with the animals around her, both real and imaginary. She makes up stories with all the skill of a seasoned sea captain. Sam's father is not always pleased with her storytelling acumen, however, for it sometimes causes problems for those around her.
Never are the problems more intense than on the night that Sam s...more
Never are the problems more intense than on the night that Sam s...more
The book occurs on a small island where Sam, the main character, lives with her father. Her father is a fisherman. The illustrations and text complement each other to make each character spring to life, even the wise old cat, Bangs. I noticed that there were only about four colors used in the illustrations. The illustrator used grey, brown, black and white. I thought using these dull colors also made the story dull and tough to imagine because there was no variety. However, the illustrator did a...more
Nov 21, 2012
Carmen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites-i-read-to-my-children
Sam finds delight in daydreaming. Her father, a fisherman, calls it moonshine and reminds her not to. Sam's best friend, Thomas is the only one that believes all of her stories: Her mom is a mermaid (when she's really deceased), she owns a fierce lion and a baby kangaroo, and her pet cat, bangs "talks" to Sam. One day she sent Thomas to Blue Rock (far out into the harbor) bangs folllowed, to find Sam's baby kangaroo when a fierce storm hit. Sam's dad rescued Thomas, but feared bangs got swept aw...more
This story is about a young girl who likes to tell fibs or as she calls them "moonshine". Her lies never get her in trouble until a young boy Thomas believes her story and ventures out getting caught and lost in a storm. Luckily the young boy is found after a grave amount of worry. From this experiences Sam learns the lesson that she should not tell lies. In this book Evaline Ness takes a jump here with her illustrations and only uses two colors, black and yellow. The drawings are not very clear...more
My version was a May 2011 paperback reprint of the 1966 original. The book won the 1967 Caldecott Award. I had never heard of this book before, but picked it up today at the library in the new children's books section. This was really weird story. It makes me wonder how crappy the rest of the books selected that year were if this was the one to win the award. The story is supposed to be moralistic, but it just goes about it in a odd way. Samantha (or Sam as she is normally called) is a liar. She...more
This book was a great story of the fine line between imagination and lying. Towards the beginning of the story I was a little confused because I felt like the story was discouraging imagination. Everything that Sam was imagining did not seem too harmful, but more or less just children's play. However, as the story went on her stories became elaborate and ended up putting her friend and cat in danger. At the end Sam learned that there is a difference between good and bad stories, that it is okay...more
Dec 04, 2012
Mary Westlake
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-literature-project
This is one of those picture books that give a very emphasized lesson towards the end of the story. Sometimes I have a hard time accepting books that give it all up and the end and don't require any thought once the final page has turned. In my opinion this story is kind of like that but the story leading up to that part kind of saves it for me. I think the character development is really great in this story and shows a sensitivity from prior hurt that is hard to put in words. The way the little...more
I was not a huge fan of this book. That was mostly because I was expecting MOONSHINE to turn into a really cool acronym or something, but it didn't. It was just the father's way of telling the girl to not lie about things that were not worth lying about. This book did have a good message for young children. It teaches them that it is okay to be sarcastic and tell stories about some things, but you should not lie about important things or people may get hurt. For this reason, I might use this boo...more
I found the story had a lot of depth and truly enjoyed the pencil like drawings. They almost looked like sketches. I also thought the use of only a few colors was wonderful. It seemed as if she was using the gold for all other colors in the story. I really did like the imagery in the story and the how it brought the young girls "Moonshine: to life. I am just a big fan of storyboard drawings.
I thought it was interesting how the little girl could only get the boy to believe her made up stories....more
"Sam, Bangs & Moonshine" is one of those rare books that truly touched me and I definitely want a copy to add to my own library to share with my children, when I have them. This one the Caldecott Medal in 1967 and I think that the text is equally strong. I just loved the story from the beginning, "On a small island, near a large harbor, there once lived a fisherman's little daughter (named Samantha, but always called Sam), who had the reckless habit of lying." Wow, what!? That's just such a...more
7 likes · like · see review
Samantha, otherwise known as Sam, has a problem with lying. She needs to learn the difference between MOONSHINE and REAL, but facing up to her desire to invent an exciting life is hard for this lonely little girl. When her friend gets stuck on a rock at sea looking for Sam's wandering baby kangaroo, Sam is forced to tell the truth and face her weakness. These mature and tough themes are addressed in a sweet story that is truly meant for children.
Though a bit old-fashioned and dated today, I sti...more
Though a bit old-fashioned and dated today, I sti...more
Tags: Caldecott, cat, night, standard source, fishermen, wharf, liar, imagination, truth, Thomas, Bangs, Sam
Sam is a little girl with no mother and father who is going in his fishing trawler every day. She makes up stories and uses her imagination to make Thomas run around looking for a make believe kangaroo. One day, Thomas ends up at Blue Rock during a storm and is almost drowned because of Sam. Her father saves Thomas, but Sam has learned the difference between "moonshine" and the truth. Illu...more
Sam is a little girl with no mother and father who is going in his fishing trawler every day. She makes up stories and uses her imagination to make Thomas run around looking for a make believe kangaroo. One day, Thomas ends up at Blue Rock during a storm and is almost drowned because of Sam. Her father saves Thomas, but Sam has learned the difference between "moonshine" and the truth. Illu...more
On a small island, near a large harbor, there once lived a fisherman's little daughter (named Samantha, but always called Sam), who had the reckless habit of lying.
Fabricating stories, that is - what her father calls moonshine. Sam's moonshine results in big trouble for her friend Thomas and her cat Bangs. I love, love Ness's illustrations. They're so inventive, so creative, so 1966. And the internet says she was married to Eliot Ness, whoa.
Fabricating stories, that is - what her father calls moonshine. Sam's moonshine results in big trouble for her friend Thomas and her cat Bangs. I love, love Ness's illustrations. They're so inventive, so creative, so 1966. And the internet says she was married to Eliot Ness, whoa.
When reading this story, it is difficult to follow the plot through sole reliance on the images. By the layout of the book, it appears the illustrations are used to reinforce the text, but are not meant to be the main aspect of the book. The images are done in a sketch like manner and are based on two colors, as well as the shades you can make from these two colors. With one of the colors being a shade itself (black) the use of the gold color adds a highlight to the images that capture the reade...more
This story is about a little girl named Sam and her cat Bangs, and the trouble Sam gets into by telling “moonshine” or tall-tales. She endangers her friend and then her cat, and realizes the harm that “moonshine” can cause when her friend believes everything she says and he and the cat nearly drown in the high-tide.
When I was much younger I didn’t have the patience to sit through this book. It was mostly in black and white with some odd accent colors like olive green, and red and yellows. Besid...more
When I was much younger I didn’t have the patience to sit through this book. It was mostly in black and white with some odd accent colors like olive green, and red and yellows. Besid...more
The daughter of a fisherman, Sam is prone to telling tales that are whoppers. She claims she has a baby kangaroo and that her mother is a mermaid. Her lying almost results in a tragedy when she sends a neighbor boy in search of the kangaroo and mermaid when the tide is coming in and a storm is on its way. As the result, Sam stops blurring the lines between what is real and what is not. The illustrations are memorable with gold colors amid soft swirling greens and grays. Although the title has mo...more
While looking through this book, you can notice the fast movement of lines drawn to make up a story on each page. The lines look like they were drawn with a simple pen or pencil and colored in slightly with a charcoal of some sort. The lines were very chaotic and hard to focus on while looking at the book. Although the lines on each page were free and all over the place, the illustrations were very unique and were slightly refreshing to see something new. While reading the story, you find that t...more
This book teaches a lesson without being over didactic. It is about a girl who likes to tell “fibs” until they come back to bite her. What I enjoyed about the book was its use monochromatic illustrations, which seem to reinforce the text. It uses a dull, brownish-green hue that reinforces the text. The story is about a little girl who likes to make up stories and pretend they are real. It is unlikely the girl would make up stories surrounded in a stimulating setting. Therefore, the little girl i...more
This book was surprising to me because it was so expressive and alive, but was illustrated in very dark and dreary colors. But, you could tell when Sam was happy and when she was sad. The amount of intricate details in the faces of the characters was unbelievable. I really enjoyed looking at the detailed pictures because it was almost like it was not even a children's book, but art. I liked how the illustrations reinforced the story line and added to it by showing what Sam's imagination was crea...more
First, let me get this out of the way. I adore this title. I am adding to my list of possible band names. And if you remove a few things, it is even more crazy: " Sam bangs moonshine." Come on... how cool? Buy my album!
Now, that I got that off my chest, the book... I really enjoy the mood and message of this Caldecott winner. Sam can't seem to keep reality and make believe clear and it leads to "trouble." Although the colors make the book dated ( it is from 1967), the use of texture gives this b...more
Now, that I got that off my chest, the book... I really enjoy the mood and message of this Caldecott winner. Sam can't seem to keep reality and make believe clear and it leads to "trouble." Although the colors make the book dated ( it is from 1967), the use of texture gives this b...more
This story is about a little girl who has a bad habit of telling tall tails. It does not cause any trouble until she send her friend on a wild goose chase and he almost dies. She learn the difference between a good moonshine, or lie, and a bad moonshine. She also learn the value of tell the truth.
The illustrations look like they are a mixture of charcoal and paint. They are somewhat simplistic but add to the story still. I feel this book would be better for second or third graders because of som...more
The illustrations look like they are a mixture of charcoal and paint. They are somewhat simplistic but add to the story still. I feel this book would be better for second or third graders because of som...more
I thought both the writing and illustrations were good, but something about the story didn't really resonate for me. The author/adult characters seemed overly harsh about Sam's "reckless habit of lying." Pretending your doormat is a chariot pulled by dragons is not lying, it is pretending. Lying is conveying untruths to people, and no one in their right mind would believe the stuff Sam says. I know, I know, we are told Thomas believes it, but I didn't buy that. Even if he were young and naive en...more
11 likes · like · see review
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Jan 10, 2010 08:16am
Jan 10, 2010 09:27am