Blueberries for Sal

Blueberries for Sal
Written and Illustrated by Robert McCloskey
Publisher:Viking Press
September, 1976
Grade Level: K-2
Themes: Families and Relationships

Summary: Sal and his mother went out on Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries. Sal's mother was busy picking blueberries. However Sal was eating all the blueberries. Then Sal got lost, she begins to follow a bear who is eating lots of blueberries to store up for the long, cold winter. On the other side of the mountain little bear is following Sal's mother because he too is lost. The big bear turns around and is shocked to see Sal following her. Sal's mother is turns around is also shocked to see a bear following her. Finally, big bear finds little bear and Sal's mother finds Sal.

Reflection:This is a cute book. There is a lot you could do with it in an elementary classroom. You could focus on the letter Bb and use this book to help you. Create math lessons. You could also talk about hibernation or have the children make a connection about a time they got lost and then write about it.

Pre-Reading: Talk to the children about blueberries and what people make with blueberries. Tell the children that in this book Sal and her mother go to Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries. They will be canning them once they have enough blueberries. Explain to the children what canning means.

Post-Reading: I would complete a math activity with the children. This would be most suited for kindergartners. I would focus on subtraction. I would show the children a number sentence, for example, 3-1=. The children would then each have a pal and blueberries that were cut out of blue paper earlier. Children would then place three blueberries in the pal and take one out. How many blueberries are they left with?

About the Author:

Robert McCloskey was born in Ohio. He is the author and illustrator of many children's books. He is a very admired man in Ohio. There is a children's section of the library called the Robert McCloskey room. He not only has books in American, but many of his books are translated into different languages for foreign countries.