The story never directly addresses the question of the missing knights, but it is hinted that they became the dragon’s fodder, leaving readers to question Owl’s decision to befriend the beast. The result is both humorous and heartwarming, offering an affirmation of courage and clear thinking no matter one’s size…and demonstrating the power of a midnight snack. While patrolling the castle walls one night, a hungry dragon shows up and Owl must use his wits to avoid meeting a terrible end. He is much smaller than the other knights-in-training, struggles to wield weapons, and has “a habit of nodding off during the day.” Nevertheless, he graduates and is assigned to the Knight Night Watch. When a record number of knights go missing, Owl applies to Knight School and is surprisingly accepted. He imagines himself defeating dragons and winning favor far and wide through his brave exploits. Owl, an adorably earnest and gallant little owlet, dreams of being a knight. Other differing details (a weathervane duck instead of a chicken a blue flower instead of a red one a blue cat collar instead of a red) suggest that they’ve unwittingly fallen into another dimension. But careful readers will notice that the tree here bears pears, while the tree at the story’s start had apples. In an unexpected turn, the ground gives way to nothingness, and the trio falls through empty space “until they landed in the soft dirt.” At first glance, it seems they’ve ended up where they began: A small tree stands on the recto, and a house with a porch is on the verso, as before. Exhausted, they fall asleep, but the dog digs after a bone it senses below.

On they dig, tunneling in different directions, and each effort reveals (to readers) yet larger jewels evading them. Each time they near one, the increasingly grubby boys maddeningly change course. Readers occupy a superior position as cross-section illustrations reveal those jewels buried just out of the shovels’ reach. Their quest to find the spectacular brings them painfully and humorously close to buried jewels as they spade their way into the ground, accompanied by an intrepid canine companion. When Sam and Dave dig a hole, readers get “something spectacular.”

Sam and dave dig a hole by mac barnett