Blueberries for Sal facts for kids
First edition cover
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| Author | Robert McCloskey |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Robert McCloskey |
| Cover artist | Robert McCloskey |
| Country | United States |
| Genre | Children's picture book |
| Publisher | The Viking Press |
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Publication date
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1948 |
| Media type | Hardback, Paperback and Kindle Edition |
| Pages | 55 |
| ISBN | 0-670-17591-9 |
Blueberries for Sal is a classic children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. It's a beloved story that won a special award called the Caldecott Honor in 1949.
The book tells the story of a little girl named Sal and her mother. They go to pick blueberries to save for winter. At the same time, a mother bear and her cub are on the other side of the same hill. They are also eating berries to get ready for winter.
The story takes place in a small town in Maine. The book's pictures are unique, using only a dark blue color and a special printing method called block printing. The characters Sal and her mother were inspired by McCloskey's own daughter, Sally, and his wife, Peggy.
Blueberries for Sal is considered a very important children's book. In 2009, it was ranked number 13 on a list of the "Top 100 Picture Books" by School Library Journal. Three years later, it was still highly ranked at number 31.
Contents
What Happens in the Story?
The book starts and ends with pictures of little Sal and her mother in their kitchen. Sal's mother is busy canning blueberries. In the first picture, Sal is playing with canning rings on her wrist and a spoon. This shows that Sal is a real child who likes to play and sometimes gets into mischief. She is not always perfectly behaved.
Sal and the Bears
Little Sal and her mother go to Blueberry Hill to pick berries. Sal tries to put berries in her bucket, but she keeps eating them instead! She drops three berries in, then eats them. This happens over and over. As Sal and her mother focus on picking, they slowly get separated on the hill.
What they don't know is that a mother bear and her cub are also on Blueberry Hill. They are eating berries to store up fat for the winter. The book cleverly shows how both the human family and the bear family are doing similar things. The pictures of both families look alike, but they move in different directions on the hill.
Sal's mother tells her they can't eat all the berries. They need to save them to can for the winter. But the mother bear tells her cub to eat as much as possible. This is so the cub can get fat for winter. The bear's way of getting ready for winter is more natural for Sal. Soon, Sal wanders off to eat berries by herself.
A Mix-Up on the Hill
Sal and the bear cub accidentally get mixed up. They start following the wrong mothers! It takes a few minutes for the mothers to realize what has happened. The bear cub tries to eat berries from Sal's mother's bucket. Meanwhile, the mother bear hears the "ku-plink, ku-plank, ku-plunk" sound. This is Sal dropping blueberries into her tin pail. That's when they both realize the children are with the wrong parent.
In the end, each child is reunited with their proper mother. They both leave the hill safely. Just before leaving, Sal drops one last blueberry into her empty pail. The final pages show Sal playing in the kitchen again while her mother finishes canning the berries.
A Follow-Up Story
A second book, called One Morning in Maine, continues Sal's story. It takes place a few years later. In that book, you meet Sal's father and her younger sister for the first time.
Film Version
Blueberries for Sal was made into a short film in 1967 by Weston Woods. Owen Jordan narrated the film. The movie showed the original pictures from the book. These pictures were colorized for the film. The film also had music played only by woodwind instruments.
You can find this short film on a DVD from Scholastic. The DVD is called Make Way for Ducklings and More Robert McCloskey Stories (released in 2004). It also includes films of McCloskey's other famous books, Make Way for Ducklings and Time of Wonder.
