Parents' Guide to They Call Me No Sam!: No Sam, Book 1

THEY CALL ME NO SAM! is a fish-out-of-water story starring a pug leaving his bad home, living in an animal shelter, then being adopted by kind Gary and Elaine Peterson for their son, Justin. The pug believed his name was No Sam, because his previous owner did nothing but yell at him for his misbehavior. He thinks his new family has it wrong when they call him Sam. But before long he hears the refrain "No, Sam!" when he makes use of what he calls "the pooping rug" and "the peeing couch" and "the chewing chair." Lots of the jokes and sight gags derive from Sam's view of the things around him, which he describes in the illustrated "Dear Diary" entires that make up the book. He calls his own species "human beings" and the people around him "naked-monkey-things." He identifies the vacuum cleaner as the "deadly assassination robot," the hair dryer as the "brain-melting heat cannon," the trash can as a "treasure chest" (which he loves to eat from), and the garbage men as "pirates" who drive their "pirate ship" (the garbage truck) to collect the treasure each week. He shares his new home with a cat whose enclosed litter box he calls "Meow's magic sand oven," since after the cat uses it, Sam nibbles on the tasty morsels left there. Even though Sam can't get the house rules down, he's devoted to the family and driven to protect them. The trouble is that when he mistakes friends and neighbors as threats, mayhem ensues. But despite his bumbling, he inadvertently uncovers a real threat from two villains.