Award: Blueberries for Sal

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Award: Caldecott Honor Book

Evaluation of the book:

Every page of Blueberries for Sal is filled with monochromatic illustrations in, you guessed it, the color blue. In a book titled Blueberries for Sal that tells the story of blueberry picking (and munching!) on Blueberry Hill, the color blue is honestly the only appropriate color for the illustrations.

Onomatopoeia makes up a large and important part of the story. Words and sounds like “kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk,” “caw, caw, caw,” “munch, munch,” “gulp,” and “garumpf” are the only thing that differentiate between the different species in this story. “Kuplink” is the sound that tells the mother bear that it is Sal following behind her; after Sal’s mother discovers the baby bear behind her, the baby bear just continues “munching” away. Sal and the baby bear aren’t bothered by the differences in their mothers; their mothers are bothered by the wrong noises following behind them.

The parallel stories between Sal and her mother and the baby bear and his mother are parallel not just in plot, but in sentence structure as well. One page describes Sal and her mother’s activities, the next page describes, in almost identical language, the baby bear and his mother’s activities. Because of this, when Sal begins to follow the bear and the baby bear begins to follow Sal’s mother, the reader is almost not surprised by the lack of panic in the two infants’ reactions. Their activities and language are so similar; they’re almost not different species at all.

Response:

What does the text have to do with you, personally?

I grew up in Maine and have spent every summer of my life picking blueberries, most of the time with my mother. Although I never encountered a mother bear and/or her baby bear, Sal’s story resonates with me - I, too, usually ate just about every blueberry I could get my hands on. To this day, blueberries are my favorite food and blueberry picking is one of my favorite activities.

Critique?

McLoskey tells a simple story of a simple activity that could seem to get a bit complicated when bears and humans mix up, but happily the story ends well with babies safely returned to the correct mothers. It’s easy to see how this simple, gripping, beautiful story has become an enduring and beloved children’s classic.

What is your overall reaction to the text?

For as long as I can remember, Blueberries for Sal has been a favorite book of mine and now, as an adult, it’s no different. I love blueberry picking; I love reading Blueberries for Sal. I just hope I never encounter a bear!

Conclusion:

I recommend this book to any child, whether they’re from Maine or not. It’s an easy and captivating story that is perfect for parents, teachers, or librarians to read aloud to young children. Children themselves will be caught up in the beautiful, very blue, illustrations. If you’ve never read this book, please do it now.

APA Style Reference:

McCloskey, R. (1976). Blueberries for Sal. New York, NY: Puffin Books.