Dinosaur Kids

A fable about Pitching in

Sam’s Before-Breakfast Job

Starring Sam, the Saichania. Sam quietly clears the stormy path before breakfast, discovering that useful work matters even when nobody sees who did it.

  • Ages 3–6
  • Joining the shelf
  • Book in the works
No. 42
Sam the Saichania character art
Sam the Saichania character art

Meet

Sam

Saichania

Learns
Pitching in
Grown-up value
Service
Fable
No. 42

How the story goes

One small trouble. Three turns.

A peek for grown-ups, so you know where the story is headed before you turn the first page.

  1. A small trouble

    Night wind scatters sticks across the path to Bentley’s table. Under the first branch Sam moves, six more wait.

  2. A brave choice

    Before sunrise, Sam sweeps, pokes a thorny limb aside with a forked stick, and spreads dry gravel on the mud.

  3. A happy turn

    “Who made the way?” Bentley wonders, but Sam is already washing up. Small, large, and sleepy feet all cross safely.

And the moral of the story

“Good work is worth doing, even when nobody claps.”

Say it together at the last page. It’s short on purpose.

For grown-ups · After the last page

Talk about it.

  1. 1Why do you think Sam didn’t say he did it?
  2. 2What would you have cleared first?
  3. 3What helpful job could you do, even if nobody sees?
Watch & sing · Short · 0:19The Saichania song Opens on YouTube

Up next · Fable No. 43 · Naming feelings

Shannon and the Too-Loud Rain

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