Sam the Man wants to earn some money and heās got a cluck-worthy plan in this endearing chapter book thatās the first in a new series from Frances OāRoark Dowell.
Sam the Man needs a job. His sister gets twenty bucks a pop for mowing peopleās lawns. But seven-year-olds arenāt allowed to mow lawns, so Sam decides to ask his next door neighbor if she needs help doing other chores. It turns out sheāll 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 isnāt easy. AND a dollar a pop isnāt 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 heās earning? Itās not enough for a bike, and too much for candy. But wait! Itās just enough for a chicken of his ownāthe 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!