There is a moment every night, somewhere between the last cup of water and the hallway light going dim, when whoever is on bedtime duty gets handed a book. In our house it is almost always the same one. The cover is soft at the corners now. The spine has that particular lean a book gets when it has been read a few hundred times. It is Always Sam, by Joan Tabb, and it has quietly become the most requested book on the shelf.
The short version
A gentle story about kindness, empathy, and looking past what someone looks like. There are five chameleons hidden in the illustrations, which means it gets read twice: once for the story, once to find them all. Pair it with a kid size satin pillowcase and you have a bedtime routine children actually ask for.
What the book is about
Sam is a kid. That is rather the point. Sam rides a bike, has a dog, goes to school, and looks a little different from the other children in the class, and the book takes its time letting that simply be true rather than making it the whole plot.
Joan Tabb writes with a light hand. There is no lesson delivered in bold type at the end, no moment where an adult character steps in to explain the moral. The kindness arrives the way it does in real life, in small gestures, and children absorb it without ever feeling taught. Kirkus called it a gentle story with clear messaging about kindness, empathy, and seeing beyond superficial differences, which is exactly what it is.
The illustrations are watercolor soft and full of small things to notice, which is the real secret of a book that survives repeat readings. Somewhere in those pages are five hidden chameleons. Finding them has become its own ritual in our house, and we are not entirely sure anyone has ever found all five on the same night.
Honored
Kirkus Reviews honored Always Sam with a Get It Award. We would have loved it regardless, but it is nice when the people who read children's books professionally agree with the four-year-old.
Why it works at bedtime
Not every children's book is a bedtime book. Some are too loud, some end on a note that gets a child thinking rather than drifting, and some are simply too long for the stretch of evening you actually have.
Always Sam lands in the right place. It runs about the length of one settled reading, it ends softly, and the chameleon hunt gives a child something quiet and focused to do with their eyes at exactly the hour you want their eyes doing something quiet and focused. Looking for something small and hidden is, it turns out, a rather effective way to wind down.
The other thing bedtime books do, the thing nobody puts on the back cover, is mark the end of the day. Same book, same chair, same five chameleons. Children find enormous comfort in repetition, and repetition is most of what a bedtime routine is.
The hero of the ritual
The Mini, our kid size satin pillowcase
A 14" x 20" satin pillowcase built for smaller sleepers, with everything the full size has. Signature 100% pure satin blend, anti-aging, machine washable, flap closure so it stays put, and the bonus secret pocket sewn into the seam. Less friction means fewer tangles, fewer knots to fight at breakfast, and a gentler landing for delicate skin. In Serenity, Vintage Rosé and White Russian, from $32, or bundled with our custom Mini Pillow made in Dallas, Texas.
Our bedtime story ritual, in order
Nothing revolutionary here. It is the order that does the work.
- Bath, then pajamas, then lights low. The room gets dimmer before the story starts, not after.
- The pillowcase goes on before the book comes out. A small thing, but it means the bed is finished and waiting rather than being fussed with at the end.
- One story, read properly. Voices included. Sam gets a voice. The dog gets a voice.
- Chameleon hunt. Three minutes, maximum, or it becomes a negotiation.
- Secret pocket check. More on that below.
- Lights out, door cracked. Done.
We designed that pocket for grown-ups, for the hair tie you lose every night and the lip balm that ends up under the bed. Children found a much better use for it. It holds a tooth waiting on the tooth fairy, a note for the morning, a very small plastic animal that has to sleep nearby, and, in one memorable stretch, a single acorn that could not be discussed.
Savvy tip
Buy two Minis in the same shade. Pillowcases need washing weekly, and a child who has bonded with a specific pillowcase will not accept a substitute. The second one is not an indulgence, it is insurance.
Three shades, chosen by the small people who use them
They also travel beautifully, which is the part parents work out later. The Mini fits in a backpack, goes to a grandparent's house, survives a red-eye, and turns a strange bed into a familiar one. Same pillowcase, same book, same routine, three hundred miles from home.
The woman behind Sam
Joan Tabb is exactly as delightful as you would hope the author of this book would be. There is a chameleon puppet. There is a handmade Always Sam mug with a chameleon for a handle. There are red glasses that deserve their own paragraph.
What comes through in the book comes through in person, which is not always the case with children's authors. The warmth is not a writing technique. It is just how she is, and it made it onto the page.
Out in the world
Joan reads Always Sam in school libraries, which is where a book like this really does its work. Look at that second photo for a second. The rocking chair sitting empty because she would rather stand. The chameleon puppet waiting on the table. The wall of favorite characters behind her, and a room of children who are about to add one more to it.
That is the thing about a kindness book. It does not stay in the house that bought it.
If you are building a bedtime routine
Our honest advice, having done this four times over: the book matters less than the sameness. Any good story read in the same chair at the same hour will do most of the work. Find one your child asks for and then do not get clever about it.
What you can control is how the bed feels at the end of it. Cotton catches on hair all night, which is how a child who went to sleep with brushed hair wakes up with a knot at the back of the head. Satin does not. It is a small mechanical fix to a small daily problem, and it costs you nothing to keep doing it once the pillowcase is on the bed.
Start with the kid size satin pillowcases if you have a small sleeper, or the Mini with the pillow if you want the whole set. There is a travel size for hotel pillows and a full range of satin pillowcases for hair for whoever is doing the reading.
And find yourself a copy of Always Sam. Ours is falling apart, which is the highest compliment a picture book can be paid.
Welcome to the Slumber Party.