Customer Reviews

Sally Goes to the Vet

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Sally tells this first-person (make that first-dog) tale of her trip to the vet in another Sally series winner from author/illustrator Stephen Huneck. Sally, who is perhaps a black lab mix, is bored inside the house, where the people's homework, urgent memos, passports, old socks, and underwear surround her. Thrilled by a weather change, she goes outside and plays chase with her buddy, tabby cat Bingo. She's so excited that she doesn't see a tree stump, and she falls over, hurt.

She's rushed to the vet ("The nurse explains that 'vet' is short for doctor of veterinary medicine."), where she receives an x-ray (shown to the reader, there are no apparent broken bones), eye, mouth, and stethoscope exams (great close-ups here), and--a shot in the butt! This latter concerns her. When told to think of a happy thought, we see her closed eyes imagining a strawberry ice cream cone! "It really works! I hardly feel a thing." While resting in front of a fireplace with her best pal Bingo, Sally relays her story and the doctor's advice about happy thoughts. In a nice touch, Bingo is shown lying on big Sal's back, thinking of her doggy pal. The book may help allay children's fears of vets, and perhaps of their own doctor visits. While imagining a happy thought may not be sufficient for a young boy or girl, the book at least suggests that there are ways to manage your fears.

The highlights are probably the colorful, glossy, woodcut illustrations, a superb mix of big bold colors and detailed patterns that suggest texture and depth. Huneck seems to enjoy this mode so much that he devotes an opening paragraph in the "artist's note" to an explanation of technique, as well as a grateful note to vets everywhere. This 30-page work is one of those big picture books with simple text that will please toddlers and early readers as well.

I loved the first three sally books, but this one really outdoes itself. Huneck's illustrations are worth framing and thew story lends itself so well to sharing with chilren who are taking their pet to the vet for the first time.

I read this to my daughter as we brought our pet bird in for a checkup and she felt much better. Then I showed it to my vet and he had never seen another book that does such a good job of allevating a child's fear.

Can't wait for the next one!

Beautiful illustrations, fun story that will appeal to kids & adults alike

I used this book to do a presentation at a pre-school - the kids LOVED it. It was a great segue into demonstrating what we do in an examination room as well as their responsibilities as a pet owner. The age group was 3-5 years old and they loved the images - especially Bingo chasing Sally. I recommend this to all of my colleagues to have for visitors to their clinics and to specialty toy stores to carry as part of their library.

The "Sally" series by Stephen Huneck is a favorite of my first grade class. The book is large, the story is thoughtful and funny, and the illustrations are really cool - you don't see woodcut too often, and he does it very well. I use this book to help teach students about plot and "beginning, middle, end." I can say the same things about the other Sally books: Sally goes to the Mountains, to the Farm and to the Beach. All of them are really fun read alouds and I highly recommend them!

I have a black lab that looks just like Sally. She is a therapy dog and goes to two elementary schools a week. The children that read to her love the Sally books. It is amazing the concern they have for Sally and their interest and questions about going to the vet.

This book is great for kids or anyone who loves dogs, especially Labs!