Sarah, Plain and Tall (Paperback)

by Patricia MacLachlan (Author) "Did Mama sing every day?..." (more)
Key Phrases: woolly ragwort, yellow bonnet, Old Bess

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
MacLachlan, author of Unclaimed Treasures, has written an affecting tale for children. In the late 19th century a widowed midwestern farmer with two children--Anna and Caleb--advertises for a wife. When Sarah arrives she is homesick for Maine, especially for the ocean which she misses greatly. The children fear that she will not stay, and when she goes off to town alone, young Caleb--whose mother died during childbirth--is stricken with the fear that she has gone for good. But she returns with colored pencils to illustrate for them the beauty of Maine, and to explain that, though she misses her home, "the truth of it is I would miss you more." The tale gently explores themes of abandonment, loss and love. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-Glenn Close narrates Patricia MacLachlan's beautiful novels on this fine audio collection. Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of Sarah, who came from Maine to answer Jacob's advertisement for a wife and mother, all from the point of view of young Anna. The classic story continues in Skylark, as Anna and her brother, Caleb, must travel with their new mother, Sarah, to Maine when a terrible drought threatens their home. Caleb picks up the story several years later in Caleb's Story, telling of the return of his grandfather, who had abandoned the family when Caleb's father was a young boy. Close, who played the role of Sarah in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of the first book, creates distinct voices for each character without ever resorting to theatrics. Anna and Caleb's voices mature as listeners progress through the stories, and Close's carefully unobtrusive narration showcases MacLachlan's simple yet poetic words. An interview with Patricia MacLachlan at the end of the collection gives students more information about the author's life and writing process, and about the real-life inspiration for Sarah. A beautiful collusion of an excellent story with a perfect narrator, and a treat for all listeners.
Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064402053
• ISBN-13: 978-0064402057
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (172 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,595 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The History in Sarah, Plain and Tall, April 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sarah, Plain and Tall (Hardcover)

As I began to read Patricia McLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall Iwas instantly thrust into a time machine that took me back to asimpler time and place. A time of farms and wagons pulled byhorses. A time where there were no such things as computers, the Internet or any of the other distractions that we have today. This is how the Witting family lives their lives. Jacob is the father, Anna the older sister and Caleb, the youngest child. Anna and Caleb's mother died the day after she had Caleb and their father hasn't been the same since. Jacob puts an ad in the paper to find a wife and gets a response from Sarah from Maine. This book is a history lesson in disguise. I realize that all historical fiction is has an underlying history lesson, but this book in and its characters are very convincing. The lessons that the reader will learn are valuable and well taught. Sarah Plain and Tall takes place in 1910 and anyone who reads this book will learn about how people lived their life during this time. The book has many pieces of historical information. For example, it talks about how Sarah was wore very plain clothes, made by herself. It talked about how they had to use a plow pulled by a donkey to turn the fields. In one scene, a devastating storm blows through, and the Wittings must go into the barn to keep safe, but they also have to keep the animals safe. This depicts what a large role farm animals played in the livelihood of families during the early 1900's. The book also talks of how the children had to do real chores around the farm to keep it running smoothly. For example, they have to get up and help milk the cows, feed the animals and sometimes house maintenance. All of these are accurate depictions of life on a farm. Jan Susina's article, "American Girls Collection: Barbies with a Sense of History", argues that this series of books uses a nine-year-old girl to teach other girls about American history. Sarah, Plain and Tall is done in the same style of the books in the American Girl's Collection. It gives children a lesson in history, but it is hidden among an interesting story with adventure, drama and comedy. I think that this fact adds to the value of both of the books. If authors can make books that interest children and teach them something about their history, then they are truly effective authors. I think the audience intended for this book needs to be a little more mature than most of the other books we've looked at this semester. This book allows the children to use their imagination. They can imagine what Sarah looks like, how plain she really is. They can see the plows and the farm animals. Being able to see things in their head is a valuable skill for a child to have. I think that this book definitely gives children a glimpse into the past, like stepping onto a time machine. It definitely had more mature subject matter such as death of a parent, finding a new mate for the father figure and children's feelings of abandonment. Whatever the case, Sarah, Plain and Tall is a story for the ages which will be read for years to come.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plain, Tall, and Succint, January 1, 2004

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Amazon.com rating system is severely flawed. This book deserves 4 and 1/2 stars, but no such rating exists. Just the same, "Sarah, Plain and Tall" is a short sweet story. Some have criticized MacLachlan's unrealistic depiction of a mail order bride that has a say in whether she stays or returns to her hometown. Arguments have been made that this depiction is not historically accurate and that women did not have such choices in the pioneer days of early America. I am willing to point out that the book itself is a little more complex. Though told with an adult sensibility, the primary eyes and ears of this tale are those of small children. To them, everything depends on whether or not Sarah stays. It is worth noting that Sarah herself never says that she is "deciding" on whether or not she is staying. Nor does the father offer any sort of worry or concern along those lines (unless you count his initial reluctance to teach Sarah how to drive a carriage). My own personal theory is that this idea is solely in the heads of the children. The fact that Sarah does not immediately marry their father does throw this interpretation into a little confusion, but it's far easier to believe that Sarah "does things her way" and wants to wait a little while before marrying someone she doesn't know, rather than believe she would have any real choice in the matter.

I have been told that boys would never voluntarily read this book on their own because it is (horrors) pink. Furthermore, it has a girl's name in the title. And admittedly such things would be highly suspect to most (not all) little boys. Just the same, I believe boys will get just as much out of this story as girls would. I recommend "Sarah, Plain and Tall" to any child that is into stories of orphan children finding a home. Though a different reading level, it wouldn't pair badly with "Pictures of Hollis Woods" or even "Bud, Not Buddy". Alternatively, it would also go well with homestead stories like the Little House books or "Caddie Woodlawn". Short simple chapters make it a great read aloud tale for the younger set. Enjoy!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Small Book with a Big Heart, January 29, 2002

By	"kaia_espina" (Quezon City, Philippines) - See all my reviews

Caleb and Annie are two young children who have had no mother for several years. Then one day, Sarah, a lady from Maine, answers an advertisement their father, Jacob, put in a newspaper, giving new hope to the family of three. Will she be the one to fill the emptiness in their hearts and the silence in their home, at last?

Some adjustments _will_ have to be made first. Sarah has to get used to living away from the ocean that she has known and loved all her life. Jacob has to get used to having a headstrong wife who is just as good at carpentry as he is. The children have to get used to a new and unorthodox mother. Yet their hope that everything will work out always shines through.

"Sarah, Plain and Tall" is a story about people learning to live together and become a family simply because they've grown to love each other. It is also about seeing both new things with old eyes and old things with new eyes. The reader will enjoy this short, joy-filled period in the lives of these characters, whether they are learning how to swim, sliding down haystacks, or tossing cut hair to birds.

Patricia MacLachlan uses very simple language, which only highlights her poet's gift of saying volumes and painting landscapes with a few well-chosen words. The images in the novel are as potent as images in poetry, even though everything is in prose. Every last word is meaningful.

I need only think of "Sarah, Plain and Tall" to remember that sometimes the simplest children's stories are the best.