Sam the Man needs a job. Even his sister gets twenty bucks a pop for mowing people’s lawns! But seven-year-olds aren’t allowed to mow lawns, so Sam decides to ask his next door neighbor if she needs help doing other chores. It turns out she’ll pay him a whole dollar each time he can convince her dad, Mr. Stockfish, to join him for a walk. But it turns out that getting Mr. Stockfish to leave the living room isn’t easy. AND a dollar a pop isn’t going to cut it.

So when Mrs. Kerner, another neighbor, asks if Sam would like to watch her chickens, Sam jumps on the task. You can count on him, yes indeed. 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 he’s earning? It’s too little for a bike, and too much for candy. But wait! It’s just enough for a chicken of his own — the 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!

Sam the Man has a new school project. He’s got to “babysit” a vegetable in this second hilarious chapter book in a new series from Frances O’Roark Dowell.

Sam the Man is back, and he needs a NEW plan. Sam has already solved a chicken problem, but this time, he’s having rutabaga issues. Rutabaga? Yes, Rutabaga. You see, Sam thought he was quite clever, missing school while his classmates were picking out their vegetable for a two-week science project. But, instead of being able to skip the project, he gets stuck with the vegetable that no one else wanted: the rutabaga!

What even is this thing? It’s dirty and kinda purple, and it does not look like something Sam would ever eat. Sam the Man is not a vegetable man to begin with, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever be a rutabaga man. But after drawing a little face on it, he starts to grow fond of the curious veg. Then it dawns on him that vegetables don’t last forever…so he changes his plan: he has to keep this rutabaga happy—and rot-free—for as long as he can. To do that, he’ll have to make the best dirt possible. All he needs is a little help from nature, and, of course, his chickens!

Sam the Man is back with not one, but TWO plans in this third hilarious chapter book in the Sam the Man series from Frances O’Roark Dowell.

Sam Graham is a dragon fan and a big truck man. Monster trucks to be specific. And when the family minivan needs replacing, Sam has the perfect plan: get a family monster truck instead!

But convincing Mom that a monster truck is the way to go may prove to be a little too difficult, even for Sam. So he comes up with another plan: Turn the minivan into a monster minivan with a super-cool dragon painted on it! First, though, Sam has to convince his family why a monster minivan is the best choice—oh, and learn how to paint a dragon…

Sam Graham is a mystery man. But when there are no mysteries to solve, Sam comes up with a plan to find one in this hilarious fourth chapter book in the Sam the Man series from Frances O’Roark Dowell.

Sam Graham loves solving mysteries. After successfully solving the mystery of Annabelle’s lost sock, Sam decides to make mystery-solving his main hobby (after tending the chickens, of course). He recruits his best friend Gavin and a couple of their classmates for a detective club, and together they’re ready for any mystery that comes their way. There’s a problem though…there are no cases to solve!

So, Sam comes up with a plan: They’ll take the most interesting things in the lost and found and try to find out who lost what. But who could a locked box, a very long stuffed snake, and a red jacket belong to? And how will Sam and his friends find them? And…why does that jacket smell so bad?!?

Sam Graham wants a cell phone to help him with his research, but when his parents say no, he has to come up with another way to keep all the info he needs in his pocket in this hilarious fifth chapter book in the Sam the Man series from Frances O’Roark Dowell.

Here are the facts: Sam Graham is an information man. But to get information, you need to do research. You never know when you’ll need an urgent piece of info—like, say, the number for a chicken emergency hotline—so a resource for instant research is a must! This is why Sam needs a cell phone.

Unfortunately, Mom and Dad disagree. So, Sam has to come up with a plan. But what is small enough to fit in your pocket and can hold all the information you need? Sam will have to go old-school with his latest plan and use a handy notebook instead. Luckily, retro is in, and a la Nick in Andrew Clements’s Frindle, Sam might just start the latest trend!