Sam the Man & the Chicken Plan

By Frances O'Roark Dowell and Amy June Bates

Sam the Man wants to earn some money and he’s got a cluck-worthy plan in this endearing chapter book that’s the first in a new series from Frances O’Roark Dowell.

Sam the Man needs a job. His sister gets twenty bucks a pop for mowing people’s lawns. But seven-year-olds aren’t allowed to mow lawns, so Sam decides to ask his next door neighbor if she needs help doing other chores. It turns out she’ll pay him a whole dollar each time he can convince her dad, Mr. Stockfish, to join him for a daily walk. But it turns out that getting Mr. Stockfish to leave the living room isn’t easy. AND a dollar a pop isn’t going to cut it.

So when Mrs. Kerner, another neighbor, asks if Sam would like to watch her chickens, Sam jumps on the task. Watching chickens is more fun than he expects, and comes with an added bonus: it turns out that visiting the chickens is the one thing that can coax Mr. Stockfish out of the house. But what does a seven-year-old do with all the money he’s earning? It’s not enough for a bike, and too much for candy. But wait! It’s just enough for a chicken of his own—the kind that lays BLUE eggs! Soon he has a whole waiting list of kids who want to buy a blue egg. And what does Sam plan on doing with his new fortune? Buy Mr. Stockfish his own chicken, of course!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Aug 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781481440684

Frances O'Roark Dowell

Frances O’Roark Dowell is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Dovey Coe, which won the Edgar Award and the William Allen White Award; Where I’d Like to Be; The Secret Language of Girls and its sequels The Kind of Friends We Used to Be and The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away; Chicken Boy; Shooting the Moon, which was awarded the Christopher Award; the Phineas L. MacGuire series; Falling In; The Second Life of Abigail Walker, which received three starred reviews; Anybody Shining; Ten Miles Past Normal; Trouble the Water; the Sam the Man series; The Class; How to Build a Story; and most recently, Hazard. She lives with her family in Durham, North Carolina. Connect with Frances online at FrancesDowell.com.

Book preview

A Job for Sam

Sam Graham wanted a job.

Everyone else in his family had a job. His dad did something with computers, and his mom did something with clients, and his sister, Annabelle, who was twelve, mowed lawns.

Twenty bucks a pop, Annabelle said when she came home from a job, sweaty and flecked with little bits of grass. Hard to beat.

What can I do for twenty bucks a pop? Sam asked his mom.

There aren’t many jobs for seven-year-olds, his mom said. I’ll give you a dollar to clean your room.

Sam didn’t want a job that only paid one buck a pop.

Besides, his room didn’t need cleaning.

When Mrs. Kerner stopped by to see if Annabelle would take care of her chickens while she was away, Annabelle said she couldn’t do it.

I have three lawns to mow this weekend, she told Mrs. Kerner. Hate to say it, but there’s no time for chickens.

Sam raced over to Mrs. Kerner. He waved his arms in the air. I’ll take care of your chickens!

You’re only seven, Mrs. Kerner said. Seven-year-olds don’t know the first thing about chickens.

I know they lay eggs, Sam said, holding up one finger.

I know they like to be around other chickens, he added, holding up a second finger.

He tried to think of one more thing he had learned on the second-grade field trip to the farm.

Aha! He held up a third finger. I know their poop is good for the garden.

Don’t say ‘poop,’ said Mrs. Kerner.

I like the way it sounds, said Sam.

Still, said Mrs. Kerner. Still and all.

She looked at Sam for a long time. You know a lot about chickens. But you’re awfully small.

I’m bigger than a raccoon, said Sam.

I despise raccoons, said Mrs. Kerner.

Me too, said Sam.

Okay, then, said Mrs. Kerner. I think we can work together.

Don’t Forget the Chickens

Sam’s chicken job started on Friday afternoon. Friday morning, Sam ate eggs for breakfast, to get ready.

Don’t forget the chickens, Sam the Man! his dad called on his way out of the house.

I won’t, said Sam.

Don’t forget the chickens, Sam, his mom said not two minutes later, putting papers in her briefcase.

Sam huffed and puffed. "I said I won’t."

How much are you getting paid? is what Annabelle said.

Sam didn’t know. He had forgotten to ask.

Twenty bucks a pop, he decided.

  •  •  •  

Friday afternoon Sam went to work.

The chickens lived in a coop in Mrs. Kerner’s backyard, which was four backyards down from Sam’s. Mrs. Kerner had only had her chickens for three weeks, so Sam didn’t know them very well.

When the chickens saw Sam, they squawked. They strutted. They puffed out their chests.

Sam scooped grain into the chickens’ feeder, just the way Mrs. Kerner had shown him. He picked out a leaf from their water bowl. When he was done, he carefully latched the door to the coop so that no raccoons could get in.

On Saturday morning Sam filled the feeder and added water to the bowl. He collected the chickens’ eggs and had an omelet for breakfast.

After lunch Sam’s friend Gavin came over, and they built a fort out of branches and rocks in the backyard.

Then they filled up thirty-six balloons with

Reviews for Sam the Man & the Chicken Plan

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A delightful, very quick read. Perfect for families to read together. I love that there's no trauma, no bullies, etc. And I love that it promotes thrift and finding joy in things like being neighborly. Bonus: there are actually *2* intergenerational friendships. I will continue with the series... and maybe if you start your kids on them, they'll continue on themselves.