/**/ The Purposeful Wife: Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey {1948}

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey {1948}


Can I just tell you that I adore this book? I don't know how I missed it in my childhood, or how it took me the first three years of my daughter's life to get ahold of a copy, but Blueberries for Sal is just sheerly delightful. Do not hesitate- please go to your local library and borrow a copy today!

Plot. Little Sal and her mother go blueberry picking on one side of a hill, while Little Bear and his mother go eating their way up the other. Lively humor ensues as the children get mixed up and paired with the wrong parents!

Author. Apparently Robert McCloskey modeled the two human characters after his wife and daughter Sally. Which I think just makes this sweet story all the more lovely.

Educational Opportunities. Talk about sound effects, just like Sal dropping the berries into her bucket- "kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk." Experiment with your own bucket, dropping various items in to make different sounds.

If you are studying this book together during blueberry season, find a local patch to take your child picking at {even better, plant your own blueberry bushes!}. Preserve berries together- can or freeze them, make jam or a baked good {home economics}.

Talk about how bears and other animals hibernate for the winter {science}.

Activities.


Be sure to also check out... We've also read and enjoyed Lentil {sweet tale of a boy who saves the day in his little Ohio town by playing his harmonica} by Robert McCloskey, and Journey Cake, Ho! which he illustrated {think the Gingerbread Man with a Southern twist}. I haven't been able to read any other of his works, but I'm sure they are all equally delightful. Make Way for Ducklings is a popular one, and apparently he wrote a sequel to Blueberries for Sal entitled One Morning in Maine {thank you Little Page Turners for that information!}


Looking for more great books to read with your preschooler? Check out the rest of this 31 Days series here!

Some of the links above are affiliate links- which means that if you make a purchase through them, I receive a small profit at no extra charge to you. But you should know that I am an avid believer in reading for free through both local and church libraries ;). Thanks for supporting The Purposeful Wife!

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