Critical Review: Looking Out for Sarah

Looking Out for Sarah
By Glenna Lang

Lang, Glenna. Looking Out for Sarah. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing, 2001.


Winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award (2004) Looking Out for Sarah tells the day in the life of Sarah and her guide dog Perry. Perry is a Labrador retriever and takes his job very seriously as a guide dog for his blind owner Sarah. During their day, Perry and Sarah go for walks to the grocery store, catch a ride on the train, and play fetch in the yard. Since Sarah is a musician, Perry guides Sarah to a school where she plays the guitar and sings for the children. Toward the end of the story, Perry dreams about the time where he and Sarah walked all day every day for a month along country paths and small town sidewalks meeting many people along they journey. The book portrays her disability is a positive way because it shows all the things Sarah can do with her guide dog, rather than showing her limitations. In the back flap of the book, Lang shares with her readers that this book was based on a real black Labrador retriever named Perry and his owner, Sarah Gregory Smith. Although she is not an insider herself, she informs the reader about this true story of Perry and Sarah and how Perry first met Sarah at a guide dog school in New York. After Perry’s graduation from the school, Sarah and Perry went back to Sarah’s home in Massachusetts to begin their life together. Lang also explains to her readers how Sarah lost her sight as an adult from diabetes. The illustrations in Lang’s story are very captivating and show her readers that Sarah’s disability does not stop her from living her life to its fullest. This is a great story for readers of all ages because it shows how a blind woman did not let her disability stand in the way of living her life like everyone else.