by Sam Juliano
Number One Sam’s racing car exponent’s entire life centers around sporting triumphs. This theme of competition and winning at all costs is explored in this irresistible picture book by Greg Pizzoli, one that re-emphasizes a time-worn adage on sportsmanship and the insignificance of competitive prowess, when it goes up against life’s far more vital concerns. Pizzoli, who last year treated kids and picture book aficionados to the Geisel award-winning The Watermelon Seed – a vibrantly colored work about a watermelon-loving crocodile who becomes distraught after swallowing a seed, believing it will grow inside of him – has again offered up a real charmer that holds up repeatedly to classroom employment.
The matter of winning at all costs lies at the center of potentially destructive obsessive-compulsive behavior, and can be seen in many facets of capitalist societies like our own. Winning in sports in the most high-profile, and it has led to the dismissal of coaches who perpetuate physical and psychological abuse to achieve the desired ends, while finishing “first” invariably leads to financial boon and expanded job opportunities. The importance of winning at the expense of many far more important matters is often taught to kids at a very young age, and the schools themselves are often the corrupting force. In Number One Sam it is initially implied that being Number 1 at everything promotes entitlement. Sam is tops at speed and at turns, and as is proclaimed on the front page of the “Daily Bark” he’s ‘the best.’ and the ‘top dog.’ Being Number 1 is integral to psychological stability, and as it were, superiority. Before Sam loses his first race he exhibits a kind of complacency, since he has never tasted defeat. Like the high school wrestler who enjoyed an undefeated season, only to lose in a district final, Sam can’t sleep, as he tells himself that his incomparable skills even extend to ‘being the best at being Number 1″ while he eyes his endless trophies on a bedroom shelf. Then comes a chance to reassert himself, and he lines up at the starting gate with crocodile (a wonderful cameo from the previous book), elephant, and chicken. Too nervous to look in their direction after his unconscionable past defeat, he blunders at the start by missing the starting flag. Still, Sam gains on his opponents and eventually speeds by them in a bid to recapture a poll position finish. But then something unexpected happens. Four chicks cross the track in front of Sam. He could easily steer around them, but they still might be run down by the other racers. Sam screeches to a halt to gather up the chicks, and resumes the race, only to lose. The chicks, like all young kids have their own advice: “Could you slow down?”, “I have to make a pit stop,” and “You are my idol.”
Sam dreaded having to face the music after his second consecutive defeat. But he soon discovers that all the cheering is not for the race winner, but for him. His selfless act, which undoubtedly saved the lives of the chicks -and what a delighted chick parent and fellow racer! – made him Number 1 in a far more resonant and meaningful way. The race was rightly deemed insignificant. Pizzoli’s four color art is not only bold and kid-friendly, but it serves as a visual underpinning for the emotions displayed in each tapestry. When Sam notices the chicks on the track he sees red, when he wins races at the start the color is idyllic yellow, with celebratory cupcake colored circles. Stars and mini balloons dot the white at the end when everyone toasts Sam for his selflessness. Number One Sam is a whole lot of fun, and this is what makes its universal theme so memorably applied. The Caldecott committee should be taking a double take when it comes to this real winner of a picture book.
Note: This is the forty-ninth entry in the 2014 Caldecott Medal Contender series. The series does not purport to predict what the committee will choose, rather it attempts to gauge what the writer feels should be in the running. In most instances the books that are featured in the series have been touted as contenders in various online round-ups, but for the ones that are not, the inclusions are a humble plea to the committee for consideration. It is anticipated the series will include at least 40 titles; the order which they are being presented in is arbitrary, as every book in this series is a contender. Some of my top favorites of the lot will be done near the end. The awards will be announced on February 2nd, hence the reviews will continue to the end of January.
