This Morning Sam Went to Mars: A book about paying attention

by Nancy Carlson

Overview

Eight-year-old Sam is always daydreaming about exploring space and the deepest seas, which is awesome—except when he’s supposed to be focusing on schoolwork or stuff at home. It seems like all he hears is, “Focus, Sam!” and “Pay attention!” The doctor says Sam is lucky: He has a very powerful brain! But he does need some help focusing. She gives Sam and his dad lots of strategies to try, like staying organized, eating better food, and asking for help when he needs it. Sam’s favorite strategy? Make time for imagination! A note to adults gives extra tips for helping kids with attention struggles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575424330
Publisher:	Free Spirit Publishing
Publication date:	04/01/2013
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	676,244
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD520L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Nancy Carlson is an accomplished children’s book author and illustrator who has published more than sixty books. A lifelong Minnesotan,

Nancy graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with a major in printmaking. She believes that life should be fun for everyone, but especially for children. This optimistic message permeates her picture books and provides a positive counterpoint to much of what children are influenced by in today’s society.

Her characters convey positive messages and gently remind children what is right. Nancy is also a guest author and illustrator at over 150 school classrooms each year and has touched the lives of thousands of children across the country.

She lives in Minneapolis.

Editorial Reviews

After losing himself in a Mars exploration daydream at breakfast, Sam misses the school bus again. In class, distracted by an imagined deep-sea dive, he runs out of time on a spelling test, misses the last six words, and ends up feeling dumb . . . Without labeling Sam or his problem, the sympathetic story offers useful advice for children who may identify with him.

Booklist

A delightful new book that can help you see through your child’s eyes, help your child increase self-awareness, and allow you both to build effective strategies for focusing attention.

MomEnough.com

A perfunctory story barely masks a corrective agenda for children with major or minor attention issues. Being given to daydreaming about expeditions to Mars and other locales rather than watching the time or staying on task at school, Sam is continually exhorted to "Focus!"--which makes him feel "frustrated, sad and dumb." When his (apparently single) father takes him to a doctor, he unhesitatingly unloads on her. In return, he gets a prescription to lay off junk food, organize his possessions, move his school desk away from the window, and ask for help from others but also not to stop exercising his "awesome" imagination. And, shades of Leo the Late Bloomer, "then one day…Sam got to school on time with his homework!" And soon he's doing well enough there that he's no longer hearing "Focus, Sam!" Carlson illustrates this tidy plotline with cartoon scenes of dot-eyed figures in static poses, and she closes by reiterating the same suggestions for improvement in a note addressed to parents and teachers. Valid the strategies may be, but it would be hard to present them in a less convincing way; it's 100 percent bibliotherapy. (Picture book. 6-9, adult)

Kirkus Reviews

After losing himself in a Mars exploration daydream at breakfast, Sam misses the school bus again. In class, distracted by an imagined deep-sea dive, he runs out of time on a spelling test, misses the last six words, and ends up feeling dumb . . . Without labeling Sam or his problem, the sympathetic story offers useful advice for children who may identify with him.”—Booklist

“A delightful new book that can help you see through your child’s eyes, help your child increase self-awareness, and allow you both to build effective strategies for focusing attention.”—MomEnough.com

From the Publisher