Blueberry Shoe

by Ann Dixon, Evon Zerbetz (Illustrator)

Overview

Ann Dixon's delightful story, illustrated with enchanting, colorful linocuts by Evon Zerbetz, presents a playful look at the secret world of woodland creatures.

In tender and playful detail, Blueberry Shoe describes the sequence of creatures who sleep in, play with, and plan to eat Baby's lost shoe. First vole curls insid ethe shoe and makes a cozy nest of it. After vole slips away, a fox mother finds the shoe and tosses it, thinking it will be a fine plaything for her kits. And finally, a bear sniffs the lost shoe and expects it will yield a tasty morsel.

As the shoe is lost and found several times, young readers will wonder just what will happen to Baby's shoe. But it will take the arrival of another summer and another blueberry-picking trip up Ptarmigan Mountain to reveal the answer. Through lilting words and the bright, inspired linocut illustrations, children are sure to find this a memorable, memorizable story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780882405193
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	08/01/1999
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.03(w) x 8.38(h) x 0.17(d)
Lexile:	AD560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Alaskan author Ann Dixon has written several children's books, including Blueberry Shoe (page 36) and Winter Is (page 36.) With Pam, she coauthored Alone Across The Arctic.

Editorial Reviews

Blueberry Shoe will lend itself well to story hours. Preschoolers will delight in the bold illustrations, playful sense of adventure and satisfying conclusion. An energetic and engaging story.
— ForeWord

Martha Topol

An elegant picture book that manages to combine a good story, some natural history, and unusual illustrations. A family goes up Ptarmigan Mountain to pick blueberries: a mother, a father, a pigtailed older sister, and Baby. With full buckets, they discover Baby has lost a shoe, and despite a search for it, it doesn't turn up. The tiny red sneaker first becomes a nest for a vole, then a plaything for a fox, then a potential morsel for a bear, but in the end, it is covered by earth, seeds, and winter snows. The next year, when the family returns for berry-picking, Baby—walking on his own now—finds his shoe with a blueberry stem growing in it. He carefully carries it home to plant. The illustrations are linocuts in deep rich hues, placed on backgrounds of natural leaf impressions in various matte colors. The sinuous line of the medium is used brilliantly here in the animals' fur and feathers, the solid, friendly figures of the family, and the stylized but recognizable flora, from blueberries to grasses. A tasty offering, laced with nice surprises. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews