• Age: 5 to 6
• Grade: k to 1
• Reading age: 5 to 6

Sam sneaks out of the back seat of Joan and Bob's convertible to do some exploring. After creating excitement on downtown sidewalks and losing track of Joan and Bob, Sam is finally reunited with her owners. Sam doesn't believe she was lost at all --- Joan and Bob were!

This Level 1 first reader contains short stories, simple sentences, easy vocabulary, simple visual clues and lots of repetition.

Mary Labatt is an editor and writer. She is the author of the Dog Detective Sam mystery series, the Sam and Friends graphic mystery novels, the Puppy Sam level one early readers and a novel called A Puppy is for Loving. With all these dog books you can guess what Mary does on her Clear Creek, Ontario farm. She breeds and raises Rough Collies and Welsh Springer Spaniels. In the picture you can see Mary with two of her collie mothers, Annabel and Chloe.

Mary Labatt's profile page

Marisol Sarrazin is an internationally reknowned children's books illustrator. She has published more than sixty books which have been translated into many languages. Her work has already earned her numerous awards, including the Mr. Christie Award for the best book published in French in Canada in 1998. Her name was also on the lists of finalists for the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrators Medal from the Canadian Association of Children's Librarians for 2001.

Marisol Sarrazin's profile page

• Short-listed, SMART Book Award