Sunday, August 22, 2010

Sally Gets a Job by Stephen Huneck

Sally Gets a Job by Stephen Huneck

Rating: 4.5 stars

Today during our fairly regular "girls outing" during Ben's Saturday afternoon nap, Lorelei and I went to the library.  We love going, and we both love going while "the little guy" (as we all call Ben) is sleeping, instead of running around loudly, trying to pull books off shelves and wrestle with the stuffed alligators they have for other little guys.

Lorelei was pretty pooped from a morning at the playground, so I just wanted to sit and read with her.  Sometimes the library can be an overwhelming place, and finding the right books that are simultaneously familiar and known is tough.  I was heading over to the H section to look at Kevin Henkes books (we sure do love Lilly!) when I saw that our little local library --gasp!-- had every single one of Stephen Huneck's Sally books.  Lorelei was as excited as I was, which made me smile even bigger.  We pulled them out--all six of them--and read them all in a row. 

We liked them all, but we have our favorites.  This is one of them, that we brought home to read with Ben.  Lorelei and I were both a little intrigued by the title of this one and wondered out loud what sort of a job Sally the dog could get.  We soon found out!  The book starts out: "It's a lucky dog that has a family, and a lucky family that has a dog."  I was so hooked!  I almost teared up over it (yes, I cry at Hallmark commercials).  I'll try and continue without getting choked up... 

Sally watches her family go to work and school each day and thinks that maybe she should get a job, too.  So she envisions jobs for herself: bus driver (driving other dogs), a teacher (of obedience class), an archeologist (because she's good at digging), a paleontologist (because she likes bones), a rescue dog (saving animals from burning buildings).  Once again, the charm is in the huge pictures.  Stephen Huneck's woodcuts are simple and wonderful and different, and just plain charming.  She finally realizes that she has the best job in the world: taking care of her family.  Awww!

The final illustration is the little boy in the family playing tug-of-war with Sally; each has one end of the sock in her/his mouth.  I know that it's only a matter of time that Ben attempts this with our dogs.  I sure hope it doesn't result in a trip to the dentist!

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