Grandfather's Dance [Paperback]

Patricia MacLachlan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Harpercollins (September 1, 2006)
• ASIN: B001DW2Q9W
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Patricia MacLachlan was born on the prairie, and to this day carries a small bag of prairie dirt with her wherever she goes to remind her of what she knew first. She is the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb's Story; and Three Names, illustrated by Mike Wimmer. She lives in western Massachusetts.

In Her Own Words..."One thing I've learned with age and parenting is that life comes in circles. Recently, I was having a bad time writing. I felt disconnected. I had moved to a new home and didn't feel grounded. The house, the land was unfamiliar to me. There was no garden yet. Why had I sold my old comfortable 1793 home? The one with the snakes in the basement, mice everywhere, no closets. I would miss the cold winter air that came in through the electrical sockets."

"I had to go this day to talk to a fourth-grade class, and I banged around the house, complaining. Hard to believe, since I am so mild mannered and pleasant, isn't it? What did I have to say to them? I thought what I always think when I enter a room of children. What do I know?"

"I plunged down the hillside and into town, where a group of fourth-grade children waited for me in the library, freshly scrubbed, expectant. Should I be surprised that what usually happens did so? We began to talk about place, our living landscapes. And I showed them my little bag of prairie dirt from where I was born. Quite simply, we never got off the subject of place. Should I have been so surprised that these young children were so concerned with place, or with the lack of it, their displacement? Five children were foster children, disconnected from their homes. One little boy's house had burned down, everything gone. 'Photographs, too,' he said sadly. Another told me that he was moving the next day to place he'd never been. I turned and saw the librarian, tears coming down her face."

"'You know,' I said. 'Maybe I should take this bag of prairie dirt and toss it into my new yard. I'll never live on the prairie again. I live here now. The two places could mix together that way!' 'No!' cried a boy from the back. 'Maybe the prairie dirt will blow away!' And then a little girl raised her hand. 'I think you should put that prairie dirt in a glass bowl in your window so that when you write you can see it all the time. So you can always see what you knew first.'"

"When I left the library, I went home to write. What You Know First owes much to the children of the Jackson Street School: the ones who love place and will never leave it, the ones who lost everything and have to begin again. I hope for them life comes in circles, too."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dance dance wherever you may be, September 12, 2006

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grandfather's Dance (Sarah, Plain and Tall) (Hardcover)

All right, class. Altogether now. How does one go about getting kids interested in historical fiction? Any ideas? I heard somebody mentioning starting the kids on that kind of thing early on. Very good! It's an easy enough task to read historical picture books to children before they can read on their own, certainly. Just load your bookshelves with some Patricia Polacco, some Patricia McKissack, and maybe a dash of Allan Say for good measure. The minute the children want to read their own books, however, you may find filling their historical fiction needs a bit trickier. If it isn't related to "The Time Warp Trio", parents often find their bookshelves sadly lacking in that whole early chapter book historical fiction genre. So what author exists to rescue you from this dire plight? Who else but Patricia MacLachlan, author of "Sarah, Plain and Tall"! The series that begin with this pleasantly slim novel has added yet another title to its mix. "Grandfather's Dance" follows the Witting family's adventures as everyone prepares for Anna, narrator of the first book, and her wedding.

Cassie is delighted. Her older sister Anna is getting married and everything in the home is far more exciting and unusual as a result. Usually Anna lives quietly with just her mother and father, her younger brother Jack, and their grandfather alongside the prairie. Now, however, three aunts are coming to stay, to say nothing of an uncle and a host of other relatives for the festivities. Alongside this large story comes the small tale of Jack's love for his grandfather and Cassie's love for the both of them. Grandfather knows that his time is coming soon, and when at last he dies Cassie must help Jack through his grief into acceptance. It will mean remembering the good things and accepting that sometimes people have to die. Fortunately for everyone, there are always our memories to help us cope.

For kids that may still be a bit too young for Laura Ingalls Wilder, or Louise Erdrich's "Birchbark House", MacLachlan's slim novels offer a tantalizing glimpse into another time and place without ever sacrificing keen writing or gripping storytelling in the interim. This is a rare and wonderful thing to find in any author, let alone one of early chapter books. "Grandfather's Dance" touches on new, slightly darker territory than its predecessors. For some children, this may be the first book they read that deals with a beloved relative's death. In this case, Grandfather's demise comes as only the slightest of shocks. MacLachlan knows how to ease a young reader into accepting this occurrence without sacrificing her story in the process.

Alongside the parallel storylines of Anna's wedding preparations and the relationship of Jack and his grandfather is a rather unique and interesting series of daydreams on Cassie's part. Early in the book the young girl comments that she didn't love anyone for marrying, except possibly the family dog. Then, spotted throughout the book, are small references to this marriage of girl and pup. "My husband dog licks my cheek and whispers, 'You have never been more beautiful. You're more beautiful than a pot roast'." This eventually culminates with a mock wedding between Cassie and her dog Nick, with her grandfather there to see it. As he himself points out, he may never make it to her real wedding, but he's happy to oversee this pretend one in the meantime. It's bizarre but oddly lovely and it adds weight to a narrative that could well have felt too insubstantial without it.

I know it's not this series's style, but I did find myself wishing that there had been small pencil drawings of some of the images in this book. Her aunt's flute. The wedding veil. The new car. Just little things that might have made the story that much more interesting and real. MacLachlan doesn't need illustrations, of course. Her writing stands up for itself. But sometimes it's nice for those kids who rely heavily on visual images to have something small to grasp onto.

Still, this quibble isn't even hardly worth mentioning. To tell it plain, the best way to describe "Grandfather's Dance" is to simply say, "Patricia MacLachlan has done it again", and to leave it at that. This is a more than worthy follow-up to the other books in the Witting series, and a delightful addition to any library or personal collection. Best of all, you needn't have read the previous books to get a lot out of this one. It would help, but it's certainly not a requirement. A wonderful tidy book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Dance, September 5, 2006

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Wantz Upon A Time Reviews (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grandfather's Dance (Sarah, Plain and Tall) (Hardcover)

Cassie Witting has a little brother named John Jacob Witting, but everyone calls him "Jack," and he calls himself "Doggie." In the months before a big wedding, Cassie watches the relationship between her little brother and their grandfather. She is alternately amused and annoyed by Jack's constant aping of Grandfather's speech and movements. So is Grandfather.

As the wedding draws near and relatives begin to arrive, everyone is caught up in the excitement. But Cassie is an observant youngster and records things about her brother and grandfather. She notices Grandfather's temper growing shorter, even as his love grows larger. Despite what she notes, Cassie is still a child, and there are things she isn't capable of seeing until too late.

In this sweet closing to a beloved series, a family's turning point takes place before a young girl's innocent eyes. Rather than dwelling on the sadness of a special person's passing, this story is a celebration of all he was to his family. This sharing of endearment and loss is lovingly written in a way fans of the series will cherish. Its gentle treatment of death will be especially soothing to children who have lost grandparents. The sadness really can be tempered by the wonderful memories created between family members.

Young, or not-so-young, fans of the "Sarah Plain and Tall" series will find a great deal to love about this book. It earns its place next to its predecessors.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer

8/23/2006

4½-BALLOONS for WUAT Kids!; 5-STARS for Amazon

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a very sad but loving book, May 12, 2007

By 

James Guilford (MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Grandfather's Dance (Sarah, Plain and Tall) (Hardcover)

I really loved this book. As an adult, I was reminded of what it was like growing up on a farm. I loved the unique characters who were very well developed. The story was mostly obvious but could still weave the feelings of loss and love in a way that made you come out feeling filled with good feelings.