This is an excellent old classic which everyone has probably heard of. (Yes, I did just end a sentence with a preposition.) In this story, the ordinary adventure of blueberry picking undergoes a twist when a couple of bears are involved. Through patterns and repetition, children can see Sal solve the problem of suddenly finding herself with the wrong mother (something probably experienced by all children at one time or another in the supermarket...). As the repetitious reader out loud, I enjoy the details in this book's illustrations. I am amused to see Sal's mother traipsing up a hill through the blueberry bushes in a long skirt with her hair tidily done (thank goodness those days are over!) and I especially like the illustration on the hardcover's endpapers of the vintage kitchen with its wood stove and the old school canning jars (I'm also glad these technologies have been improved...). The car drawn at the beginning help to complete the visage of 1948, the year of the book's original publication--at least the quaint, picturesque parts. I suppose, though, it is difficult to enjoy the picturesque-ness without remembering the alarming inequalities and discrimination of the time, not to mention the ever-present political turmoil... . It is interesting to see the ways in which the media of a given time treats--or fails to treat--the ills of the contemporary society. Here we have a cute little story about mundane every-day things written in a year that sees the mistreatment of anyone not white and male, the Berlin Blockade, and the ongoing restructuring of Germany after WW II. Even children's books are not free from cultural context and can help one to better understand a time period. That was probably all very boring for normal people. Sorry. Even if you're not interested in things like cultural context, this is an enjoyable little time capsule with a timeless appeal.
We got this book last Saturday at a yard sale for a quarter. We really liked it.
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