Sam forgot to let his family know about Future Job Day at nursery school until the evening before the other four-year-olds are supposed to dress according to a job they hope to have someday. Sam’s dream job is zookeeper. What the Krupnik family and teacher don’t realize is that Zooman Sam’s sack contains a variety of baseball hats with names such as Tigers, Gators, Bulls, and Timberwolves. Sam’s report goes on for days. Sam surprises even himself by discovering that the hats have helped him to learn to read. Lowry expertly develops Sam and his older sister Anastasia as continuing contemporary characters who grow and change within the respective series in which each is featured. She anchors their ventures into independence by maintaining their parents as minor characters significant to each plot. As Lowry explores one way to show a character as an emergent reader, she does so within the framework of the family her readers have come to know, one to whom she grants large amounts of humor and affection. This easy novel is fun to read aloud to the four-year-olds who recognize that the author likes and understands them, while it’s fine for new readers who want chapter books suited to their new skill. Even though Sam is four, these older readers will enjoy Anastasia’s significant role at one point in the story. (Ages 4-8)