Blueberries for Sal is a wonderful classic children’s story. First published in 1948, it won the Caldecott Honor for author Robert McCloskey.
Blueberries for Sal is the story of a little girl named Sal who goes blueberry picking with her mother. The mother wants to can the berries for the winter, and is very focused on getting her pail full of berries. The book has marvelous black and white illustrations showing an old-fashioned kitchen and canning jars, an old car, the mother in skirt and sweater, and little Sal in overalls. Little Sal follows her mother up a hillside.
Sal is more focused on eating her berries than gathering them for winter. She likes to drop the berries in her pail to make a “kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk” sound. After awhile Sal gets tired of following her mother and sits down and eats berries.
On the other side of the hill, a mama bear and cub are also interested in the berries. The mama bear tells her baby to “eat lots of berries and grow big and fat. We must store up food for the long, cold winter.” After awhile the little bear gets tired of following his mother and sits down to eat berries.
Little Sal decides to find her mother. Little Bear decides to find his mother. They walk along, listening for rustling sounds. Each mother hears sounds behind her, but assumes that it is her own child behind her. When the mothers turn around they are surprised! They each back away slowly and go find their own children. Then they return home on their own sides of Blueberry hill.
This is not only a sweet book, but it’s full of fun sounds to entertain preschoolers. There is the sound of berries in the pail, and the munching and swallowing of the bears eating berries. A lot of the text has a fun lyrical cadence to it.
Blueberries for Sal is a book you don’t want to miss.
Also See:
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – Judith Viorst
Mr. Gumpy’s Outing – John Burningham