Every parent/teacher has seen it.  The terrible temper that comes out of the kid that can’t handle a situation.  This is a cute story about Sam’s temper.  But he doesn’t own it.  He’s totally separated from it.  The temper finds him one day on the playground and he thinks it will be his pet.  At first the temper makes it fun because the temper scares the kids off the toys so he can have them all to himself.  But when they get home, the pet temper causes problems with his mother and father.  When Sam tries to blame his actions of “the temper”, he only receives a harsher punishment.  The next day the temper gets Sam in so much trouble he is sent home from school.  By Saturday, Sam tries to make the temper stay away, but that only fuels the temper.  Sam then uses 3 different strategies to calm himself.  This is the stand out factor for this book.  First he tries counting to 10 like he’d seen his father do, but the temper squirms away.   Next he says the alphabet backwards as his teacher has had them do in class.  The temper fights even harder not to be suppressed.  Finally Sam tells the temper he is stronger than it and lets out a huge, deep breath.    The temper finally gives up.  The whimsical illustrations keep the story playful and interesting, especially as the temper morphs into a dragon during the final strategy used to calm down.  There are other children’s books about the almighty temper, but this one’s focus on management strategies makes it an R*.  Highly recommended.