Sally Goes to the Mountains

Rating:
Summary: A must have for Huneck fans and animal lovers.
Review: I bought this book for my mom as a present. She already owns the other "Sally" books and loved this one too. The illustrations are beautiful and very whitty. My favorite is the giant moose with Sally. The Sally books aren't just for Lab owners or children--any pet lover will enjoy them.

Rating:
Summary: A must have for Huneck fans and animal lovers.
Review: I bought this book for my mom as a present. She already owns the other "Sally" books and loved this one too. The illustrations are beautiful and very whitty. My favorite is the giant moose with Sally. The Sally books aren't just for Lab owners or children--any pet lover will enjoy them.

Rating:
Summary: With bright, superbly crafted woodcut prints
Review: In Sally Goes To The Mountains, author/illustrator Stephen Huneck draws upon his award-winning expertise to take young readers on a romp with a fun-loving black Labrador named Sally. Sally goes for a ride to the mountains where she encounters bears, moose, rabbits, and skunks! There are berries to pick, sticks to fetch, and a lake to swim in. Huneck's bright, superbly crafted woodcut prints perfectly capture the joy of a dog's outing in the mountains for young readers. Also highly recommended is the earlier volume of Sally's adventures, Sally Goes To The Beach (0810941864, [price]).

Rating:
Summary: A book for any age!
Review: Sally Goes to the Mountains is a book I would give as a gift to any dog lover from 4 to 94. It's colorful illustrations, charming and witty captions, subject matter and size makes it the perfect coffee table book. I'll cherish mine forever. I can't wait for the next "Sally" book and plan to visit the huneck.com website to choose a special framed print from this very special book.

Rating:
Summary: The saddest dog in the world
Review: When I think of picture books starring black Labrador pups, I have to admit that my first thoughts usually go to those insipid "Carl" books that are bafflingly popular. I wish I had a better frame of reference, but until I discovered, "Sally Goes to the Mountains" I didn't know of any other good Lab-based picture books. As it turns out, this particular picture book is one of many that chronicle the adventures of the oddly dour Sally. Though the techniques that created the book are brimming with talent, the books themselves are a bit pat. A lovely package that circles a so-so book.

As the title suggests, this book is about Sally the dog and her trip to the mountains. Based on scenery found on the author/illustrator's farm in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, the tale follows Sally as she meets and greets a variety of different birds and mammals in the wide-open wilderness. Fortunately Sally isn't a chase-animals-and-eat-`em type. She plays with the rabbits, has mind-numbingly repetitive conversations with a local owl, and dives into fresh fish-filled waters. After seeing a bear munching berries off a bush, Sally appears to have a bizarre vision of utter frustration when she sees a bush growing dog food cans. At this sight, it becomes clear that Sally has dreamed all her adventures and that she has only at that moment arrived in the mountains with her dog food bearing master.

The book isn't afraid to fudge the occasional wilderness detail, I noticed. In one panel Sally comes across a family of skunks which she calls, "very nice, except for one little stinker". This skunk, according to the picture, sprays Sally. I expected the next few pages to be a systematic cleaning of Sally in a bathtub full of tomato juice, but apparently neither she nor anyone else is particularly disturbed by the smell. Odd that. Then again, this is all supposed to be a dream, so how seriously can you take it? The story itself is fine. It's not really all that original. But if you've a kid that's a dog lover (especially labs) they'll probably enjoy it. And the art's lovely. Top notch stuff. The only problem with it, really, is that Sally looks morose 90% of the time. With large bags under her eyes and a mouth that, when closed, is inclined to turn downwards, half of her pictures make her look as if she's on the verge of tears. In an Artist's Note at the beginning of the book, Stephen Huneck gives a lovely description of the process he takes to create the story's woodcut look. It's just odd then that Hueck should choose to give the world such a depressed heroine. If you don't believe me, just check out the endpapers of Sally and some rabbits leaping across the pages. The rabbits look pleased with themselves and rabbitty. The Sallys seem to be contemplating the nature of death and whether leaping like this has much of any point in such a cold cruel world. But that's just my personal interpretation.

All in all, this is a book with pretty packaging and not much in the way of story or character. If you're a fan of new woodcut techniques, this may well be the book of your dreams. If, on the other hand, you like stories with wit and a main character that doesn't look as if they're two steps away from sticking their head in an oven, "Sally Goes to the Mountains" may not be for you. FYI.