Secret Agent Man Goes Shopping for Shoes

PreS-Gr 2—Sam's day includes exploring his home, shopping for new shoes, eating lunch out, riding the bus home, and taking a nap. His alter ego, Secret Agent Man (S.A.M.), however, is digging for treasure, monitoring a suspicious salesman, and having a side of snakes with his burger. The text and pictures alternate between depicting a spy thriller and a child's actual existence. The digital illustrations have the look of block prints. Textures, shading, and contrasting colors are used to differentiate between the real and the imagined. When Sam is in S.A.M. mode, he wears black clothing and a gadget belt. Those pages look nocturnal, full of shadowy black, blue, and brown tones. Regular life looks like daytime, and Sam is dressed as a kid. Kay (K.) is Sam's mom/partner. When they both decide to get shoes with tiger stripes, K. shows a Secret Agent side as well. The realistic and the imaginary realms merge at climactic points, with the illustrations appearing either split screen-style or with a frightened Sam shown as a child against the dark S.A.M. background.