Customer Reviews

Blueberries for Sal

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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McCloskey wrote this about his wife Margaret (daughter of author Ruth Sawyer Durnad) and daughter Sally encountering a mother bear and cub while picking blueberries on Deer Isle. The story has some funny turns when both mother and child get separated and wind up finding the wrong family member. Imagine that! Well, all's well that ends well. And, guess you wondered what happened in the end don't you? You'll have to see for yourself. McCloskey sadly passed away on June 30, 2003 most of his life he illustrated and wrote children's books. He wrote eight books during his life. All the book reflect on family experiences, small-town life, and life in Boston. His story, 'Make Way for Ducklings' is set in Boston. McCloskey is one of the few authors that depicted Americana in a light-hearted vision through his illustration. He will be sadly missed. 'Blueberries for Sal' won the Caldecott award for children's book illustration. It's a darn good story to boot, too!

For our family, each summer we read "Blueberries for Sal" together. Then we drop the blueberries that we've bought (sadly not picked) into a tin bucket to listen to the kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk, and end with making blueberry jam to put aside for winter.

It's something my older children remember with delight, and something my youngest is newly excited about. The illustrations are beautiful, especially of Sal and Sal's Mother in the kitchen.

Both the story and blue-ink illustrations are simple but charming. There's nothing mythopoetic here, but there is something magical about just being out in the wide-open country picking berries (we're going to pick wild blackberries today!). An excellent short bedtime story of the "light reading" variety.

It's a classic case of mistaken identity when, while on a hunt for blueberries, two very different mommies and two very different children get separated and all mixed up. Or are they really that different? With McCloskey's incredible eye for natural detail from a child's point of view, this story tells a hilarious tale about a human mother and child (the eponymous Sal) who go blueberry hunting and run into their bear counterparts, who are storing up food for hibernation. Not only are the sound effects hilarious (my son loves to chant the KERPLINK! KERPLANK! KERPLUNK! part along with me) the story also teaches a lot about comparing and contrasting characteristics in the natural world, and the striking and original blue-and-white illustrations make this book unique. Your preschooler is sure to delight in it, and your first grader is still going to love it and be able to draw more sophisticated comparisons and conclusions from the story. Sure to be a bedtime favorite for many years - it has been in my househould!

This is a story that you were probably read as a child. It is one of those wonderful stories, so rarely written in this day of commercial tie-in books like Bob the Builder and such, that both the child and the parent can enjoy together and even both get a good chuckle out of.

If you are looking for a fun children's book with great illustrations, this is for you.

The original "Are You My Mother?" book and a classic through and through. In this classic tale the ever androgynous looking Sal and her mother go blueberry picking in the wild outdoors. Sal, voracious for blueberries, loses her mother and attaches herself to a mother bear, just as the bear's child loses its mother and attaches itself to Sal's. The swap is easily cleared up and in the end no harm is done. Sal's mother, seeing that her child is a baby bear and not her own kid, doesn't seem particularly alarmed by the odd turn of events. She is wary of the bear (a wise thing to be) but finds her own child quickly and easily. This is a charming little story. Sweet and simple. McCloskey's illustrations and text have lasted for at least fifty years, and will undoubtedly last another fifty. Some scenes are absolutely entrancing as well. As Sal walks around a large boulder in search of her misplaced parent, McCloskey's lines display a real sense of human movement. This is such a charming story that I would recommend it to anyone anytime. It is rare to meet the ageless text, but in this book you have exactly that.

Blueberries for Sal has always been a favorite of mine, and now my three-year-old son is enjoying the book! We've read it bunches of times, and now he recognizes it at the library when we see it. We've checked out the audio tape a couple of times, and have it right now. I think I'm going to have to renew it because it's all he wants to listen to in the car! On one side is a nice reading of the story, and on the other, little songs, games and comments from the readers. Some are familiar, such as "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around" and "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" and some are new, such as "No Bears Out Tonight". It's a better value than many books on tape, which only have the story and not the extras like this one does.

I attend West Virginia State College. My name is Mary Cook and I am taking a children's literature class. The book would be appropiate for preschool children. The blue and white drawings give you the thought of blueberries. The book teaches sequencing of events and comparing events to small children.

Whenever I ask my 3-year-old granddaughter to pick some books for me to read to her before she goes to bed, I know that "Blueberries for Sal" will be one of them. This gentle story of Sal and her mother and Little Bear and his mother picking blueberries on the mountain is one of her favorites. There is enough repetition in the story that I can pause and my granddaughter will fill in with "Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk" or whatever other words fit in the story. Losing one's mother and getting lost are great concerns for children, so the happy ending of this classic is very appealing to little ones. This is a highly recommended children's book.

I was skeptical about the McCloskey classics and have to admit was surprised when my 26-month-old really enjoyed the book. It's simple and easy to follow - the text and story are perfectly suitable for a read-a-loud for 2 year olds. Also the simple but easy to follow drawings engaged his interest and were a nice alternative to the flashy and elaborate colorful pictures usually found in children's picture books and a great simple alternative to our flashy fast-paced media culture. I also thought it was a great opportunity to help develop attention span. The length and complexity of the text was just the right level of challenge - beyond what he was used to hearing but he didn't tune out because the story line itself was one he felt he could understand or at least figure out. I'm finding all of McCloskey's books great for word choice. Most of the words are within our 2 1/2 year old's range but there are always some that are quite new and challenging so I'm glad that the text isn't dumbed down. It gives him exposure to more and unusual words that he's not likely to come across in everyday conversational language. Additionally, the comprehensible story line and the pictures can provide the support that he needs to be able to figure out the meanings of some of the novel words. So actually, I thought this was an excellent book for transitioning to more challenging text and more detailed story lines, which 3 months later at 29 months, he has done - now he's listening to "Make Way for Ducklings", another great and more complex McCloskey book for the toddler/preschool crowd. From a diversity viewpoint, it's important to be ever so slightly cautious. The book was written in the 1940s and it reflects the gender, race and class stereotypes of the time but not to an extent that makes it objectionable as long as it is only one of a few of such books in the child's collection. The story itself is very, very cute and a good book about respecting other animals and seeing them as having feelings and needs as well as humans. Because there's a sequel with an older Sal, it's also a great opportunity to introduce the child to the concept of a continuing story (which they will encounter at a later age in chapter books and series).