Blueberry Bummer

I have sold only one hat and book set from my show at the Needham Library. I hope people are waiting to see me at the Needham High PTC Craft Fair next month! But what was interesting was that my blueberry hat and the Blueberries for Sal book sold. Not a problem, I thought. So I made the hat, and went off to my local bookstore to buy the book, and was shocked to find that they have all been pulled from the shelves.

All copies of Blueberries for Sal are no longer for sale because of negotiations between the McCloskey family and the publisher, Penguin. What is even more interesting is that next to nothing can be found on the internet about this. This great classic of a book has silently been pulled from circulation, and that saddens me more.

From an online Publisher's Weekly Children's Bookshelf August 21, 2008:

Rhalee Hughes, director of publicity at Penguin Books for Young Readers, acknowledges that the classic picture book is currently unavailable, but says, "We have been in negotiations with [Robert McCloskey's] estate and we are hopeful that we may be able to put Blueberries for Sal back into circulation."

So please, don't buy inflated used book prices you might find. Wait it out. Reprinting will happen in due time.

My Blueberry hat collection: