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16th out of 90 books
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1,578 voters
Sarah, Plain and Tall (Sarah, Plain and Tall #1)
The novel is set in the midwestern United States (Kansas) during the late 19th century. Jacob Witting, a widowed farmer who is still saddened by the death of his wife several years earlier, giving birth to Caleb, finds that the task of taking care of his farm and two children, Anna and Caleb, is too difficult to handle alone. He writes an ad in the newspaper for a mail-ord...more
Paperback, 64 pages
Published
2001
by Houghton Mifflin
(first published 1985)
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This is a slight book, an hour or two's read at most, yet it's deeply-moving and addresses the existential problems of life in a straightforward way.
The book is as plain as Sarah, but neither the word "plain" nor Sarah's beauty or lack of it are ever defined. Does 'plain' mean not-goodlooking, not beautiful on the surface or does it mean unadorned, without unnecessary ornament, both in looks and her character. In the context of the book either way makes perfect sense.
The story has but a small...more
The book is as plain as Sarah, but neither the word "plain" nor Sarah's beauty or lack of it are ever defined. Does 'plain' mean not-goodlooking, not beautiful on the surface or does it mean unadorned, without unnecessary ornament, both in looks and her character. In the context of the book either way makes perfect sense.
The story has but a small...more
I'd forgotten all about this gem, until I saw someone elses review on here..I loved this and so did my daughter.
I had totally forgotten about this book, friends. I mean, I knew I liked it when I was younger, but I had pretty much forgotten what it was.
So I picked it up again.
Good lord, do I like Sarah—MUCH more than I remember, since I think originally I was mostly focused on Anna.
I wanted to know what motivated her.
There she is, with her only brother about to be married and her cute young sister-in-law not wanting her in the house. So she answers an ad and sets off across the country to (maybe) marry a...more
So I picked it up again.
Good lord, do I like Sarah—MUCH more than I remember, since I think originally I was mostly focused on Anna.
I wanted to know what motivated her.
There she is, with her only brother about to be married and her cute young sister-in-law not wanting her in the house. So she answers an ad and sets off across the country to (maybe) marry a...more
My mother is a retired librarian, and this was one of the books she recommended most frequently for young readers. Now many years into retirement, she still suggests it regularly.
Anna and Caleb live on the prairie with their papa. Mama died from childbirth complications, and the house feels hollow now that Papa doesn't sing anymore.
Sarah comes from Maine for a one-month trial period to see if she and Papa might want to marry. Sarah is plain and tall, which is probably why she hasn't yet found...more
Anna and Caleb live on the prairie with their papa. Mama died from childbirth complications, and the house feels hollow now that Papa doesn't sing anymore.
Sarah comes from Maine for a one-month trial period to see if she and Papa might want to marry. Sarah is plain and tall, which is probably why she hasn't yet found...more
Incredibly concise and understated, with so much going on between the lines. Very well written - I enjoyed it as much as my daughter.
All 5 books in this series are good, but this first one, and the final one (Grandfather's Dance) are exceptional.
All 5 books in this series are good, but this first one, and the final one (Grandfather's Dance) are exceptional.
this book was great i was willing to read it over and over again.
Anna, the voice of the story, is a young girl who lives on the prairie in the 19th Century. She lives on a farm with her Papa and her brother, Caleb. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to Caleb. The story begins several years later when Papa places an ad in an Eastern newspaper for a wife. Sarah responds to his ad in a brief letter that clearly describes her intentions and character. Anna and Caleb are both delighted, Caleb more so, at the prospect of a new mother. Letters are sent by th...more
This is my absolute favorite book. Well, OK, top 10. You know how it is with me and favorites. I have lost count of how many times I've read this little gem of a book. Every sentence is perfect and adds to the story. Each sentence has not one word or description too many. The prose is spare and perfect. The books reads like masterful storytelling instead of novel reading. I love this book!
I've lost count of how many times I have read it. Until this year, I taught it every year to my fourth grade...more
I've lost count of how many times I have read it. Until this year, I taught it every year to my fourth grade...more
Short and straightforward, with a plot that will appeal to children, I think this is a time the Newberry committee got it right. This book is a classic for a reason: a timeless story well written, not over ambitious with a plot that is appealing and understandable to young readers.
This book took place in Kansas, during 1910. It is mainly about a man(jJacob Witting) whose wife died. He believes that he has to remarry because a "women's role" is missing in his two children's life. He posts an add on the newspaper saying that he needs a wife. The advertisement was responded by Sarah, a women who is described as a beautiful and strong, from Maine. Jacob agreed that Sarah can travel to Kansas, to his house, but only if she makes a difference will he remarry. Ana, Jacob's ten...more
MacLachlan creates a story of ordinary circumstances and turns them into a living, breathing event readers can feel. She is able to reveal the characters emotions without telling us HOW they are feeling but WHAT they are feeling. By the end of the story, our heart is warmed as if we were sitting by a crackling fire.
Jan 10, 2009
Marcia
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childrens-lit,
audio-cd
Stepmothers, frontier and pioneer life, death of a mother, and acceptance of others. a delightful story to read and is written from the view of the two young children. Sarah’s character is strong: she shows her courage to travel alone from Maine to Kansas; she leaves behind her home, family, and the sea; she begins a new life with strangers in a strange land; and most importantly, she “stands up” to Jacob. It is a strong woman such as Sarah who can love and be loved by a family broken apart by t...more
Title: Sarah, Plain and Tall
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 64 pp, 1985
Audience: Children, ages 8 to 10
Format: Juvenile fiction (Newberry Medal, award winner)
Description: Sarah, Plain and Tall is an American classic about two children, Anna and Caleb, who are suffering from the loss of their mom. Caleb was too young to remember their mom as she died shortly after he was born. Anna remembers that their mom and dad used to sing every day. They see how it has affect...more
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 64 pp, 1985
Audience: Children, ages 8 to 10
Format: Juvenile fiction (Newberry Medal, award winner)
Description: Sarah, Plain and Tall is an American classic about two children, Anna and Caleb, who are suffering from the loss of their mom. Caleb was too young to remember their mom as she died shortly after he was born. Anna remembers that their mom and dad used to sing every day. They see how it has affect...more
Sarah, Plain and Tall, is about a young girl named Anna who tells a love story about how her small family found their missing link to happiness. Anna's mother died at the birth of Caleb, Anna's younger brother. Since the death of her mother things have not seemed right around the prairie, there has been a longing for a mother figure. In the times of covered wagons and tumble weed, a man could write off for a mail order bride; which is what Jacob, Anna's father did. In response a young woman from...more
Anna (the narrator of the story), is a young girl who's mother died when she was younger. The kids have a lot of questions about her, especially Caleb who's mother dies the day after he was born. His family used to sing every day but now they don't because Papa doesn't remember any sings. Papa wants to find a new wife so he places an ad in the newspaper, soon he receives an answer from a woman named Sarah. The kids asked lots of questions about her for example, "Do you sing?" Sarah decides to co...more
Loved this simple little book--quite a quick read but I'll be thinking about the characters and lessons for more hours than half hour it took to read.
Appreciated the honest heartbreak that the book started off with as the two children whose mother died in childbirth openly miss her and try to remember her. Then, they so strongly hope with all their little kid hearts that the woman with whom they exchange letters will become their mother, and a wife to their father. Sarah arrives and is a charac...more
Appreciated the honest heartbreak that the book started off with as the two children whose mother died in childbirth openly miss her and try to remember her. Then, they so strongly hope with all their little kid hearts that the woman with whom they exchange letters will become their mother, and a wife to their father. Sarah arrives and is a charac...more
Sarah, Plain and Tall is about family who loses a mother and finds a mother. It is about relationships, change, loss, love, and acceptance. Overall, it is a touching, lovely story, and it is excellently written. The book is historical fiction, with the family living on a farm in the American midwest. There are a lot of historical and cultural details included: what farm work was like, how the kids got to school, how they spent leisure time, etc. The book would be a great read-aloud, and could be...more
Annotation:
Jacob Whitting was widow while his wife had complications while giving birth to his youngest son Caleb. (This book is set in Kansas in the 19th century.) Later he realizes how difficult it is to be a single father while working on the farm. Jacob places and ad in the newspaper for a mail-order bride and Sarah, who was from Maine, answers his ad. Throughout the book she begins to bond with the youngest Caleb but the daughter Anna feels like Sarah is trying to replace her mother and all...more
Jacob Whitting was widow while his wife had complications while giving birth to his youngest son Caleb. (This book is set in Kansas in the 19th century.) Later he realizes how difficult it is to be a single father while working on the farm. Jacob places and ad in the newspaper for a mail-order bride and Sarah, who was from Maine, answers his ad. Throughout the book she begins to bond with the youngest Caleb but the daughter Anna feels like Sarah is trying to replace her mother and all...more
Textbook – The Joy of Children’s Literature – P. 210
Genre – Historical Fiction
Summary:
A farmer is forced to raise his two children all on his own when his wife dies in childbirth. A few years later he goes in search for a wife to help him and obtains a mail-order-bride. Sarah soon answers him and is saddened to leave her beautiful surroundings of Maine, but is anxious to start a new life. Will the openness of the prairie be too much for her?
A) The author is able to convey the characters with an...more
Oct 29, 2012
Barbara
added it
Sarah Plain and Tall is about a family set back many years ago. Jacob the father and oldest, loses his wife and finds it very difficult to take care of his family without her. He puts an ad out looking for a mail order bride. Sarah then joins the family and takes on the new role of the mother. She teaches the children all about where she was from and makes sure that she is always there for the children. In the end Jacob and Sarah end up getting married and they all officially become a family. I...more
This is one of the most touching and beautiful children's books I have ever read. It flows like poetry--rhythmic, melodic, yet able to capture profound emotion with just a few well chosen syllables.
The story is ostensibly about a mail-order bride who makes the journey from Maine to the dusty Great Plains in order to raise two motherless children. The children's sole desire is that Sarah be happy with them, and stay as their new mother. While the plot is simple, the range of feeling is not, for M...more
The story is ostensibly about a mail-order bride who makes the journey from Maine to the dusty Great Plains in order to raise two motherless children. The children's sole desire is that Sarah be happy with them, and stay as their new mother. While the plot is simple, the range of feeling is not, for M...more
SYNOPSIS:
Caleb and Anna's mother died the day after Caleb was born. All that's left are memories and old stories about their mom. One day their father announces that he put an ad up looking for a wife. "Like Maggie?" Asks Caleb. Their neighbor did the same thing long ago and Maggie answered the ad, she became his wife and a wonderful mother. Sarah replies to the ad, "I will be wearing a yellow bonnet, i am plain and tall". When the children meet Sarah, they begin to remember what it's like to be...more
Caleb and Anna's mother died the day after Caleb was born. All that's left are memories and old stories about their mom. One day their father announces that he put an ad up looking for a wife. "Like Maggie?" Asks Caleb. Their neighbor did the same thing long ago and Maggie answered the ad, she became his wife and a wonderful mother. Sarah replies to the ad, "I will be wearing a yellow bonnet, i am plain and tall". When the children meet Sarah, they begin to remember what it's like to be...more
MacLachlan, Patricia. Sarah, Plain and Tall. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.
*John Newberry Medal Winner
-This book is about a midwestern family. Caleb and Anna have lost their mother and their father is still grieving. He is finding it ahrd to raise two children alone, so he puts out an add for a wife. Sarah, a woman from maine, answers the add and they embark on the road to being a family.
Themes
-mid-west pioneers
-family
Activities to do with children
-Anna and Caleb keep a journal of their famil...more
*John Newberry Medal Winner
-This book is about a midwestern family. Caleb and Anna have lost their mother and their father is still grieving. He is finding it ahrd to raise two children alone, so he puts out an add for a wife. Sarah, a woman from maine, answers the add and they embark on the road to being a family.
Themes
-mid-west pioneers
-family
Activities to do with children
-Anna and Caleb keep a journal of their famil...more
During the days of homesteading on the American plains, it was not unusual for women to die in childbirth. Caleb and Anna lost their mother to the birth of her second child.The two children yearn for a mother while their father, Jacob, needs a woman to care for his children and home. This is the reason why Jacob advertises for a mail-order bride. Sarah lives on the beautiful Maine coast. She has never married, so when she sees the ad, she answers, describing herself as plain and tall. The childr...more
I'm just a little too old to have read this book as a child, but it's one I have heard mentioned again and again. While looking for good Summer reading for my 9 y.o. daughter, this seemed to be on every "must read" list. But when we were browsing at the bookstore and I picked it up, we were both surprised at how small this book is. My Harry Potter loving daughter thought I was crazy to suggest a book she could probably read in an hour, and I admit I agreed, thinking she was too advanced a reader...more
When I first started reading Patricia MacLachlan’s Sarah Plain and Tall I thought it was a rather strange story. It seemed strange to me that someone would write a middle grade book about a father putting an ad in the paper for a new wife/mother for his children. However, as I continued to read I realized that the book was set in a different time period – colonial times- and that this was actually a very good idea. The author has chosen to write about colonial times in order to teach younger chi...more
After Anna and Caleb's father puts an ad out in the newspaper for a new wife, Sarah comes to live with them and give them the help that they need out on their farm. Set out in the West on an isolated farm, this work of historical fiction is a nice and tranquil story about the human spirit. Because Anna and Caleb's mother died during childbirth, the two children and their father often battle with loneliness out on their family farm. Caleb asks a lot of questions about their mother and their fathe...more
أرجوكم لا تسخروا مني إني أحب القراءة في أدب الأطفال لذلك أقوم بشراء بعضها بين الوقت والآخر لتزجية الوقت
كما إن هذه الرواية الصغيرة حصلت على جائزة نيوبري الأمريكية لأدب الأطفال
وهي تحكي قصة أسرة تعيش في مزرعة والأسرة تتكون من الطفل كاليب أخته الصغيرة ووالده
الأسرة لم تعد تغني بعد وفاة الأم :(
ينشر الأب إعلان في جريدة طلب زواج ويتلقى رسالة سارة
التي وصفت نفسها بأنها ( فارعة الطول متوسطة الجمال )
وطلبت منه أن يخبر ابناءه بأنها تستطيع أن تغني
سارة تنتقل للعيش مع أسرة كاليب في فترة تجريبية يفترض أنها ت...more
كما إن هذه الرواية الصغيرة حصلت على جائزة نيوبري الأمريكية لأدب الأطفال
وهي تحكي قصة أسرة تعيش في مزرعة والأسرة تتكون من الطفل كاليب أخته الصغيرة ووالده
الأسرة لم تعد تغني بعد وفاة الأم :(
ينشر الأب إعلان في جريدة طلب زواج ويتلقى رسالة سارة
التي وصفت نفسها بأنها ( فارعة الطول متوسطة الجمال )
وطلبت منه أن يخبر ابناءه بأنها تستطيع أن تغني
سارة تنتقل للعيش مع أسرة كاليب في فترة تجريبية يفترض أنها ت...more
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan is the book I chose for my optional novel choice. My thoughts when I was reading, was that this book was very easy to read and descriptive. I also liked how it was short novel, yet still had so much meaning of love and acceptance in it. I think the author did a very good job at trying to use different themes throughout the novel. The two major ones that stuck out in my mind were family and abandonment. I could see a child that comes from a divorced fa...more
Sarah, Plain and Tall is a children's book written by Patricia MacLachlan, and the winner of the 1986 Newbery Medal. The book explores themes of loneliness and abandonment.
The novel is set in the midwestern United States (Kansas) during the late 19th century. Jacob Witting, a widowed farmer who is still saddened by the death of his wife several years earlier, g...moreSarah, Plain and Tall is a children's book written by Patricia MacLachlan, and the winner of the 1986 Newbery Medal. The book exp...more
The novel is set in the midwestern United States (Kansas) during the late 19th century. Jacob Witting, a widowed farmer who is still saddened by the death of his wife several years earlier, g...moreSarah, Plain and Tall is a children's book written by Patricia MacLachlan, and the winner of the 1986 Newbery Medal. The book exp...more
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Patricia MacLachlan is a bestselling U.S. children's author, best known for winning the 1986 Newbery Medal for her book Sarah, Plain and Tall.
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“There is always something to miss, no matter where you are.”
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34 people liked it
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Jan 16, 2012 11:03am
Thank you. I hadn't expected to get so much from a children's bo...more
Mar 31, 2012 01:17pm