Books with author Patricia MacLachlan

Their mother died the day after Caleb was born. Their house on the prairie is quiet now, and Papa doesn't sing anymore. Then Papa puts an ad in the paper, asking for a wife, and he receives a letter from one Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton, of Maine. Papa, Anna, and Caleb write back. Caleb asks if she sings. Sarah decides to come for a month. She writes Papa: I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall, and Tell them I sing. Anna and Caleb wait and wonder. Will Sarah be nice? Will she like them? Will she stay?

Arthur Rasby is ten years old and having the worst summer of his life. His parents don't listen to him, so he writes everything down -- everything that's real -- in his journal. But when he goes to stay with his Great-Aunt Elda and Great-Uncle Wrisby on their farm, his world is turned upside down. For the first time Arthur wonders what's real and what's not.His aunt and uncle do things Arthur's parents would never do -- like climbing out windows to sit in trees, singing to their pet pig, and speaking French to a pet chicken. Life on the farm happens much too fast to write down -- sometimes wonderful, sometimes terrible. Arthur begins to understand there is more than one way of seeing and doing and loving. And he realizes there's a whole world just waiting to be discovered.

From Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan comes a reassuring story about new beginnings and making friends.Nora and her family have just arrived from Russia and are making a new home on the American frontier. The prairie is very different from the forested hills Nora is used to. Most of all, it’s lonely. Papa has the cows he sings to as he milks them. Baby brother Milo has a dog to follow him wherever he goes. But Nora has no one and nothing to call her own until Papa brings home a dozen chicks and two geese. Nora names each one, and they follow her everywhere — even to church! But what will happen when one of her beloved chicks goes missing?

Willa does fall in love, but it isn't at all the way she dreamed it would be. And just what is extraordinary? Willa and twin brother Nicky's mother is going to have a baby-how ordinary. Their friend Horace's mother has left to"seek her fortune."That, Willa thinks, is extraordinary. Willa is on the verge of learning something important. And by the end of the long summer, Willa, Nicky, and Horace each do something extraordinary and unforgettable.

For many children who live far away from their grandparents, it can be hard to understand why they can't always be together. Patricia MacLachlan has created a bridge to close the distance by finding connections in memories and the moon they share. A beautiful, lyrical poem coupled with Bryan Collier's rich collages, Here and There celebrates the importance of staying close to your family, even across thousands of miles.