Blueberry Shoe by Ann Dixon

Illustrations copyright by Evon Zerbetz and Alaska Northwest Books. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
transmission without written permission of the publisher. Text copyright by Ann Dixon. All rights reserved. Please contact for permission
to use.

Blueberry Shoe
Evon Zerbetz, illustrator
32 pages, Softbound, $8.95, ISBN 0-88240-519-5
Hardbound, $15.95, ISBN 0-88240-518-7
Alaska Northwest Books

Blueberry Shoe was selected by the Alaska Library Association
for the 2000-01 Battle of the Books.

Parent's Guide to Children's Media Award

National Outdoor Book Award

Book Sense 76

Blueberry Shoe began with a family blueberry outing when my children were young. As usual, we went blueberry picking in the mountains. This particular time my youngest daughter lost her shoe, quite like in the story. And like the family in the book, we returned home shoeless after "searching mossy hummocks for one tiny shoe."

That's where the real-life story ends, however. The rest was my imagination. Soon after our outing, while sitting at my writing desk, I began to think about what might happen to a little shoe lost on a mountain. Animal by animal, season by season, the story unfolded in my head and onto paper.

Just so you don't think writing the story was too easy, I'll let you know that it went through many drafts and the original ending was different. At a writing conference I attended, author Eve Bunting read the manuscript before it was published and suggested changing the ending. I did, and she was right. I like the story much better now!

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"Baby's family loves to pick blueberries from Ptarmigan Mountain. On one of their picking trips, Baby loses his shoe. After quite a search, the shoe remains lost and the family returns home. The little shoe brings quite an adventure to the animals living on the mountain. Will baby find his shoe? Young readers will enjoy Ann Dixon's surprise ending."
                                                                                               --- Children's Book Review Service

"An elegant picture book that manages to combine a good story, some natural history and unusual illustrations….A tasty offering, laced with nice surprises."
                                                                                               --- Kirkus

"This will be an inspiration for other unusual garden 'pots,' and a source for primary science units.
It may also spark wonder about the fate of other lost objects."
                                                                                               --- Booklist

"Together, the words and the art capture the joyous family outing and the excitement of each animal's discovery. This book can be used for patterning; repetition; discussion of seasons, plants, and the food chain; and, of course, Alaskan flora and fauna. This delightful, versatile picture book will warm the hearts of readers again and again."
                                                                                            --- School Library Journal

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

"As comforting as a serving of warm blueberry cobbler."
                                                                                            --- Publishers Weekly

"Blueberry Shoe is a delightful picture book that explains the passing of the seasons through the whimsical tale of a lost sneaker. A toddler's shoe comes off while he's being toted in a backpack on a berry-picking trip. The search for the shoe is fruitless, so to speak, so the family goes home. Later, a vole, a fox and a bear each have a go at the shoe, and their actions leave it poked with holes and filled with dirt -- the perfect home for a blueberry seed. Winter snows cover the seed, and spring and summer warmth encourage the plant to grow right out of the sneaker... Zerbetz takes care to make her animals realistic-looking, and to depict a sense of family love and adventure in her humans."
                                                                                              --- Alaska Magazine

Blueberry Shoe was selected by the Alaska Library Association
for the 2000-01 Battle of the Books.

Parent's Guide to Children's Media Award

National Outdoor Book Award

Book Sense 76

Ann's daughter, Linnea, shows off the
bounty after a blueberry picking expedition.

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Plant your own shoe! Fill an old, worn-out shoe with dirt and plant a flower or berry seedling in the dirt. Don’t forget to water it!

Write (or draw a picture -- or both!) about something you lost. Why was it important to you?
Did you ever find it? If not, what do you imagine might have happened to it?

Bake blueberry muffins or a blueberry pie. When you’re done eating, take a look at your tongue!

Go on a wild berry-picking expedition. Then try berry-picking at a berry farm. Which is easier?
Which do you think is more fun?

Ann's daughter, Nori, right, and friend Alisa
picking wild blueberries in Alaska.

What kinds of berries grow where you live? Are any poisonous? Draw and color pictures of these berries, including the leaves.

Links:

For more activities, including a downloadable Study Guide, go to http://www.gacpc.com/kids_studyguides.htm.

For information on blueberries, visit www.blueberry.org, the website of the North American
Blueberry Council. Also visit the website of the Blueberry Association of North America at http://www.wildblueberries.com.

To learn about animals and animal tracks see the website of the National Wildlife
Federation at http://www.nwf.org.

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