Sam and the Lucky Money

Title: Sam and the Lucky Money

Author: Karen Chinn

Illustrator: Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

Medium: Watercolor painting

Genre: Picture Book – Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Theme: Generosity, greed, gratefulness, thinking of others, appreciation, kindness

Other Relevant Information: This book is the author’s first picture book.

Summary: The book is about a young boy named Sam that learns the meaning of kindness. He also learns to be grateful for what he receives.

Literary Elements: 

This book is a contemporary realistic fiction that reflects the themes I stated above. The setting of this story mostly takes place at the Chinese New Year celebration at Chinatown. Some of the illustrations show the mood of the setting and story such as the part where Sam accidentally kicks the homeless man’s foot after kicking some snow. It is almost as if they are the only two people in the world as they encounter each other. The story is narrated and is told by the 3^rd person point of view. The character of Sam was the main focus in this story. Karen, the author, gave us insight to his character by writing about how he learned one of life’s important lessons – kindness. The part where she set the plot was the one about Sam realizing that his money from his grandparents was worthless to him, but worth something for the homeless man. Karen’s style of writing is very nice. She gives details of the characters’ surroundings as well as feelings. Her words are also strategically placed on each page to where you can read them clearly while all of the pages are actually pictures.

Evaluation: 

I love the illustrations in this book. They are amazing. They really capture the setting, mood and feelings on every page. I also love how Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu really captured Sam’s expressions as well. It really feels like you are empathizing with him, and not only him, but also with the homeless man.

  

Social Justice Element:

I believe that the social justice element of “awareness raising” applies to this book. It is important for children who read this book to be aware of people in need. They should also be aware of kindness and paying it forward. This generation of children is not learning as much of those types of social justice elements, so it need to be taught again and refreshed.

Follow-Up Activity:

A follow-up activity that I would love to do with my students is a craft activity, then going to visit a nursing home and/or shelter to give them their crafts. It would lift up their spirits and make their day, let alone year. This kind of activity would allow children to see how much of an impact that a small act of kindness can do for someone.