Saving Sweetness

Sweetness

by Diane Stanley, G. Brian Karas

"A rip-roaring tale featuring a big-hearted sheriff, a high-spirited heroine, and a happily ever after ending, all told in the tongue-rattling twang of the Old West."--School Library Journal

Sweetness is the littlest orphan at mean, old Mrs. Sump's orphanage. When she escapes, Mrs. Sump sends the sheriff out to "rescue" her. But in the Wild West, with evil desperados about, it's the sheriff who ends up needing the help of Sweetness more than the other way around. . . .

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Adoption, Family, Storytime

32 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1996

About the author

Diane Stanley is an American children's author and illustrator, a former medical illustrator, and a former art director for the publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons. Born in 1943 in Abilene, Texas, she was educated at Trinity University (in San Antonio, TX) and at Johns Hopkins University. She is perhaps best known for her many picture-book biographies, some of which were co-authored by her husband, Peter Vennema. (source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a hoot! This is surely a different type orphan book from most on my orphan related shelf! This book is so different, in a good way. The storyline, language, illustrations, all seemed atypical for a children’s picture book.

I loved the pictures. The art style is great, and the juxtaposition/positioning of the different pictures on the various pages keeps one’s attention, keeps things fresh, and works so well with the story.

The story is so funny and kids will get a kick out of Sweetness’s behavior and who saves who and when. There is a very satisfying story arc and a wonderful ending.

A cross between Pippi Longstocking, Little Orphan Annie, and many other orphan stories, but with a clever twist.

[Cora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Per my first graders: it was awesome and gross when Pete had to marry her. It was fuuuunny!
Per the teacher: Great story with outstanding voice and good for helping students predict and read between the lines. Also, good to teach idioms with this. Really enjoyable!!!

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a hoot! I don't usually enjoy picture books with lots of dialect or books about the Wild West but this one is both and it utterly charmed me. Sweetness is so wise and resourceful and adorable! I had a great time with her adventure and though I figured things out a little faster than the Sheriff did, I still enjoyed the ending.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

When cute-as-a-button Sweetness - the youngest orphan at slave-driving Mrs. Sump's home for unwanted children - runs away, the local sheriff sets out to track her down, concerned that she might come to harm. With outlaws like Coyote Peter roaming around, you never know what might happen! Unfortunately, the sheriff (who is also the narrator) isn't quite as prepared as he thinks he is, and Sweetness has to rescue him a number of times, coming to his aid with water, food, and a timely intervention in his confrontation with Coyote Pete.

Told in a highly colloquial style, Saving Sweetness is an amusing tale whose humor rests on its role reversal - it is the child who must rescue the adult, and who must shepherd him to an understanding of how he could really rescue her - and on its narrator's generally clueless misreading of his role in the story. The sheriff remains convinced, throughout, that he is indeed saving Sweetness, something that young readers will undoubtedly find funny, as they witness the way that the actions of the two protagonists, as well as the illustrations, belie this. The artwork itself is very interesting, combining painted elements with old photographs. All in all, Saving Sweetness is an engaging tale, one I would recommend to young readers who enjoy silly stories, and/or orphan tales with happy endings. I'll have to see if I can track down the sequel, Raising Sweetness , to see what happens next with this spunky young heroine!

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this hilarious tale of a sheriff who repeatedly "saves" a runaway orphan. Stanley's tale is funny and sweet, and G. Brian Karas' fun illustrations are just perfect.

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darling little book!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweetness is a spunky little orphan who runs away from an orphanage run by a mean headmistress. The kind sheriff, who is telling the story, is sent out to the desert to save her. She ends up saving the Sheriff a couple times but before he can take her back, she runs away again. The problem is she doesn’t want to return to the orphanage. In the end, there is a happy ending for Sweetness. The book is set out west. The Sheriff telling the story is telling it with a cowboy accent and speaking in slang which is unique and makes the reader feel like they are out west with the Sheriff. When he speaks he uses a lot of metaphors, similes, and personifications to really make his point come across when he talks. The full bled illustrations pull the reader into the story while the Sheriff is out to save Sweetness. The pictures on the beginning and ending pages are bordered with tape and gives the feeling of old time crafting. The artwork is an interesting combination of painted elements and old photos. In the end, Sweetness becomes the heroine of the book as she saves the Sheriff from dangers in the desert and escorts him on a journey of how to really save her.

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, sweet, sweet story set out in the Wild West. Sweetness is an itty bitty orphan fed up with living with mean ol' Mrs. Sump in the orphanage. So she runs away. Now it's up to the sherrif to go find her and bring her back! However, she is a clever one and does not make it easy for the sheriff to catch up to her.

What I loved most about this book is the twangy Western vernacular used with lots of metaphors and yes, improper grammer....ain't, gonna, lessen', fur (for), and the likes. I read this book this week because our rodeo is in town and I thought this book would be perfect! There is no possible way one can read this aloud and NOT get into character and practice using their best exaggerated Texas accent. However, I must warn you, it's hard to get OUT of the Texas accent once you are in it!

I read this book to many grade levels this week and it surprised me that the ones that seem to enjoy it the most were those big, bad, top dog 5th graders! "Don't that just beat all?"

[Beckie Coldiron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saving Sweetness is a wonderful book to add to any classroom set! This unique and fascinating book can easily explore the topics of; personification, hyperboles, similes and metaphors. Besides being a great book filled with different types of language, it also introduces the topic of adoption and families. In today's society, I believe it's imperative to have a book on adoption in every classroom. With that being said, Saving Sweetness has a fun twist at the end, which can make this serious topic more at ease when discussing. I would recommend this book for kindergarten-fourth grade.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful and unusual, with clever twists.

[Briana Talley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was quite a fun ride, the pacing of it builds anticipation and the story is compelling that it makes you want to finish it to the end. It's a great book for teaching kids how to make predictions and read between the lines. My favorite part about the book was the fact that it was narrated by the sheriff and written to reflect his heavy southern dialect. This presents a million different ways to have fun when reading it to children. In my head while I read, I imagined by grandpa speaking, he also, by uncanny coincidence was a sheriff. The illustrations are done mostly with colored pencil and watercolor, the colored pencil being more prominent and setting the dry tone of the desert, even as I was reading it, I felt thirsty as the sheriff walked through the desert looking for Sweetness

[Angelica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “Saving Sweet” was a book about an orphanage. The women who was in charge wasn’t very sweet to the kids and the kids were always cleaning. Eventually a child named sweetness leaves and the women has a man go look for the child. He eventually finds sweetness but she doesn’t even want to go home and continued running away. The man continue keeps running into trouble and when he’s in a tough spot sweetness comes out of nowhere and saves him. The man then eventually ends up adopting the little girl and then also ends up adopting all the other children. The illustrations in this book were great. All the illustrations have a great idea of what was happening in that moment. The voice I interpreted was a country man with an accent.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This whimsical short children’s tale features a capable little girl called Sweetness and a not-so-handy, clueless sheriff who’s sent to rescue her. This sheriff is a bungler who makes rookie mistakes while scouring the desert for the runaway orphan who’s determined not to fall back into the hands of the Miss-Hannigan-like shrew who runs the orphanage. The sheriff is equally determined to bring her in but time and again he falls prey to his own foolishness and must be rescued in turn by the stubborn little heroine.

Children will undoubtedly be tickled by the notion of a fumbling adult having to be led to a happy ending by a child who knows better. Illustrated alternately in scribbles and collages, this story is just as charming and honeyed as Sweetness herself.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The picturebook “Saving Sweetness” is a silly southern story about a Sheriff and a little girl named Sweetness that ran away from her orphanage. The adventure is funny and it seems that Sweetness saves the Sheriff more than the other way around. The Illustrations are beautiful and very unique, with a combination of cartoonish characters, and realistic backgrounds. The voice of the story is distinctly southern, with many well known sayings. I couldn't help but read this story with a country accent in my head.

[Summer Lor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book consisted of dark colors, but it added so much to the story line! They also helped me gain more of a visual understanding of what was happening in the book. This book outlines the story of an orphan named Sweetness and all of the rebellion that she did because she wanted so badly to get out of the orphanage. The voices in this book sounded southern and added so much context to the story. This book was so fun to read with all of the different voices of the characters.

[Gabriella · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book about a little orphan girl named Sweetness who runs away and ends up getting adopted by the Sheriff that goes looking for her was just about okay. I enjoyed the illustrations, it was a mix of what looked like photography and then sketches to add to the story. I think at first this book show us how tough and imperfect an orphanage can be but the end is very unrealistic for such an important issue.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are amazing with a mixture of photographs and drawing. It is very unique. A sheriff goes to rescue Sweetness, an orphan. She saves him several times and he thinks he's rescuing her. He finally agrees to adopt her and she stays saved and helps bring in Coyote Pete.

"Pa!" says she, and she fell on me like Grandma on a chicken snake.

[Jane McCarville · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Saving Sweetness” is the story of a little girl named Sweetness who lives in an orphanage that is run by Mrs. Sump, a very mean lady. One day the littlest orphan, Sweetness, decides she’s had just about enough of scrubbin’ floors with a toothbrush, so she runs away. The Sheriff, who has a big heart but not the brightest person, sets out to find her and return her to the orphanage. The adventures of both of them will entertain you for sure!

[Micaela Varela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how the language of this book was authentic to the character that was narrating. It was like mixing cute and old Westerns. It was fun to read about the Sheriff "saving" Sweetness. And in the spirit of Westerns, this book gave the hero their well deserved ending indeed.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven orphans are kept by a cranky woman - Mrs. Sump - who is unkind to them. Little Sweetness escapes and Mrs. Sump sends the sheriff to find her and bring her back. The story is funny, and also shows the kindness of the sheriff. Fun and interesting illustrations, and a great ending.

[Emily Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably not for younger children, and my English-major self struggles with the "aint's" and other improper uses of grammar, but it is a funny and entertaining book. With an enthusiastic reader, this could be quite fun.

[Mandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's always a good thing when kids get adopted into a great home 😊 But the "old western" talk, the name calling, & the ending just killed it.

[Stephanie Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute, and a great resource for teaching the voice trait.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about an orphan girl who needs “saving”. Interesting mixed media illustrations. Basically this is little orphan Annie set in Texas.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best read-alouds ever written, especially if you can pull off a Texas accent.

[Ginger L Dalde · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of mom's favorites to read aloud!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was honestly one of my favorite books to read aloud.

[Jillian Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for fans of the Wild West! It can also be recommended to kids who are adopted. Cute read aloud.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of big, funny words but aside from that, I didn't find a lot of substance in this book.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun! Every time Sweetness saved the sheriff, he thought he saved her. In the end, though, he did indeed save her...but it was her idea, of course!