Sal Quotes

“I had never seen him angry. “Sometimes I don’t think you’re human,” my mother told him. It was the sort of thing she said just before she left, and it bothered me, because it seemed as if she wanted him to be meaner, less good.”

“She picked three more berries and ate them. Then she picked more berries and dropped one in the pail-kuplunk! And the rest she ate. Then Little Sal ate all four blueberries out of her pail!”

“Her mother went back to her picking, but Little Sal, because her feet were tired of standing and walking, sat down in the middle of a large clump of bushes and ate blueberries.”

“She hadn’t gone very far before she heard a kuplunk! Kuplunk! Kuplunk! She knew just what made that kind of noise!”

“Little Bear’s mother turned around to see what on earth could make a noise like kuplunk! ‘Garumpf!’ she cried, choking on a mouthful of berries, ‘This is not my child! Where is Little Bear?’ She took one good look and backed away. (She was old enough to she shy of people, even a very small person like Little Sal.) Then she turned around and walked off very fast to hunt for Little Bear.”

“Little Bear and Little Sal’s mother and Little Sal and Little Bear’s mother were all mixed up with each other among the blueberries on Blueberry Hill.”

“Little Bear padded up and peeked into her pail. Of course, he only wanted to taste a few of what was inside, but there were so many and they were so close together, that he tasted a Tremendous Mouthful by mistake. ‘Now, Sal,’ said Little Sal’s mother without turning around, ‘you run along and pick your own berries. Mother wants to can these for next winter.’ Little Bear tasted another Tremendous Mouthful, and almost spilled the entire pail of blueberries.”

“Little Sal brought along her small tin pail and her mother brought her large tin pail to put berries in. ‘We will take our berries home and can them’, said her mother. ‘Then we will have food for the winter’. “

“her mother walked slowly through the bushes, picking blueberries as she went and putting them in her pail. Little Sal struggled along behind, picking blueberries and eating every single one.”

″...when she started to brush her teeth something felt very strange! One of her teeth felt loose! She wiggled it with her tongue, then she wiggled it with her finger.”

″ ‘But you mustn’t tell anybody your wish, or it won’t come true,’ cautioned her mother. ‘It’s supposed to be a secret wish.’ ”

″ ‘Why it’s gone!’ she said sadly, feeling once more just to make sure. The loose tooth was really and truly gone. The salty mud from her fingers tasted bitter, and she made a bitter-tasting face that was almost a face like crying.”

″ ‘Ma-a-a-ma!’ she cried. ‘One of my teeth is loose! It will hurt and I’ll have to stay in bed! I won’t be able to eat my breakfast and go with daddy to Buck’s Harbor!’ ”

“But when your tooth does come out, you put it under your pillow and make a wish, and your wish is supposed to come true.”

“One morning in Maine, Sal woke up. She peeked over the top of the covers. The bright sunlight made her blink, so she pulled the covers up and was just about to go back to sleep when she remember, ‘today is the day I am going to Buck’s Harbor with my father!’ ”

″ ‘Our wishes were all used up...besides, Jane, two ice-cream cones would ruin your appetite. When we get home we’re going to have clam chowder for lunch!’ ”

“That means that today you’ve become a big girl. Everybody’s baby teeth get loose and come out when they grow up. A nice new bigger and better tooth will grow in when this one comes out.”

“She paused to watch some sea gulls having breakfast. They were dropping mussels down on a rock to crack the mussel shells, just like nuts. Then they flew down to eat the insides.”