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Sarah Plain and Tall Boxed Set
This Newbery Medal–winning book and children's literature classic is perfect for fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books, historical fiction, and timeless stories using rich and beautiful language. Sarah, Plain and Tall gently explores themes of abandonment, loss and love. The 30th Anniversary edition includes author Patricia MacLachlan’s Newbery speech, discussion guide and reading list.
- GenresChapter Books
First published October 9, 2001
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About the author
Patricia MacLachlan
125 books804 followersPatricia MacLachlan was born on the prairie, and always carried a small bag of prairie dirt with her wherever she went to remind her of what she knew first. She was 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 lived in western Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 26, 2011
Dave calls this one "the story of a mail order bride."
It's the best ever story of a mail order bride, then.
It's the best ever story of a mail order bride, then.
December 31, 2025
The first book is by far the best, as it is by far the most beautifully written. There's cadence to it like in a song or poem. The other tales allow us to follow the characters on in life as the children grow into adults and experience joy and pain.
March 3, 2019
I read this series as bedtime reading with my 6 year old. We loved them!
January 3, 2012
I was browsing the bookstore looking for a new dose of children’s literature to read over the weekend when I chanced upon Sarah, Plain and Tall by Paricia MacLachlan. I’ve brought it and read the short story in one sitting. It was interesting and, like most valuable children’s books, full of values and wisdom.
I’ve read countless of fictional stories about mail-order brides told from the point of view from the bride herself or from the groom and from both. Oftentimes, the reason for engaging mail-order brides is to keep house and care for the groom’s motherless children. And oftentimes, it’s a happy ending. One notable mail-order bride story is Eye of the Beholder by Ruth Ann Nordin.
Anway, what sets Sarah, Plain and Tall apart from these fictional stories is that it is told from the observant and reflective perspective of the eldest child, Anna Witting. It seems that the story answered my curiosity about how children would react to a new woman in the house. Rather that resistant and defiant, Anna and her younger brother, Caleb, are all welcoming and clamouring for attention and worrying over the possibility that Sarah, their father’s mail-order bride would suddenly leave, just like their mother who died unexpectedly on the day after giving birth to Caleb.
Without their birth mother, Anna and Caleb lead a quite life on the prairie while their father “doesn’t sing anymore”. Then their father puts an ad in the paper, asking for a wife. He receives a letter from Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton of Maine. He and his children each wrote back a letter, asking a lot of questions. Caleb particularly asks if Sarah sings. And she wrote back: I am plain and tall, and tell them I sing. Sarah decides to come for a month.
I like the idea that instead of just the father, the children also write back. After all, they are the ones spending a lot of time with Sarah; they need to know if they all will suit together by asking simple yet touching questions—Do you know how to braid hair? Do you know how to make stew and bake bread? What are your favorite colors? Do you like small rooms? Can you keep a fire going at night? Do you snore when you sleep? Can you sing?
It is this last question that really touches me. Singing is an exciting form of communication. It transforms the quiet days into more lively and unforgettable moments. For Anna and Caleb, this is important, for in wanting a woman who can sing, they desire to bring back their home to how it was before when their mother was alive and their happy father sings with her.
“You don’t sing anymore.” (Caleb) said. He said it harshly. Not because he meant to but because he had been thinking of it for so long. “Why?” he asked more gently.Slowly Papa straightened up. There was a long silence, and the dogs look up, wondering at it. –page 8
The prairie where the Wittings live is almost different from the landscape in Maine where Sarah resides with her brother, a fisherman, very close to the sea. Sarah loves the sea. This is enough for the children to worry. Oh, the worries are well-expressed, with Anna trying to be very hard to be strong about it.
Sarah turned and looked out over the plains.
“No,” she said. “There is no sea here. But the land rools a little like the sea.”
My father did not see her look, but I did. And I knew that Caleb has seen it, too. Sarah was not smiling. Sarah was already lonely. In a month’s time the preacher might come to marry Sarah and Papa. And a month was a long time. Time enough for her to change her mind and leave us…
I wish everything was as perfect as the stone. I wished that Papas and Caleb and I were perfect for Sarah. I wished we had a sea of our own. –page 23-24
Then there is the issue with regards to Sarah’s low self-esteem, insisting that she is plain and tall. But in the eyes of the children, she is made out as beautiful because of her love for life, her joy to try new things, and her ability to be able to communicate with them.
The most touching part, for me, is when Sarah brought the sea to the prairie. And that would be something you should find out for yourself. But one thing is for sure, the story portrays brave children and their desire to keep their family together—a desire so strong it pains them emotionally after experiencing loneliness and abandonment.
Five stars!
I’ve read countless of fictional stories about mail-order brides told from the point of view from the bride herself or from the groom and from both. Oftentimes, the reason for engaging mail-order brides is to keep house and care for the groom’s motherless children. And oftentimes, it’s a happy ending. One notable mail-order bride story is Eye of the Beholder by Ruth Ann Nordin.
Anway, what sets Sarah, Plain and Tall apart from these fictional stories is that it is told from the observant and reflective perspective of the eldest child, Anna Witting. It seems that the story answered my curiosity about how children would react to a new woman in the house. Rather that resistant and defiant, Anna and her younger brother, Caleb, are all welcoming and clamouring for attention and worrying over the possibility that Sarah, their father’s mail-order bride would suddenly leave, just like their mother who died unexpectedly on the day after giving birth to Caleb.
Without their birth mother, Anna and Caleb lead a quite life on the prairie while their father “doesn’t sing anymore”. Then their father puts an ad in the paper, asking for a wife. He receives a letter from Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton of Maine. He and his children each wrote back a letter, asking a lot of questions. Caleb particularly asks if Sarah sings. And she wrote back: I am plain and tall, and tell them I sing. Sarah decides to come for a month.
I like the idea that instead of just the father, the children also write back. After all, they are the ones spending a lot of time with Sarah; they need to know if they all will suit together by asking simple yet touching questions—Do you know how to braid hair? Do you know how to make stew and bake bread? What are your favorite colors? Do you like small rooms? Can you keep a fire going at night? Do you snore when you sleep? Can you sing?
It is this last question that really touches me. Singing is an exciting form of communication. It transforms the quiet days into more lively and unforgettable moments. For Anna and Caleb, this is important, for in wanting a woman who can sing, they desire to bring back their home to how it was before when their mother was alive and their happy father sings with her.
“You don’t sing anymore.” (Caleb) said. He said it harshly. Not because he meant to but because he had been thinking of it for so long. “Why?” he asked more gently.Slowly Papa straightened up. There was a long silence, and the dogs look up, wondering at it. –page 8
The prairie where the Wittings live is almost different from the landscape in Maine where Sarah resides with her brother, a fisherman, very close to the sea. Sarah loves the sea. This is enough for the children to worry. Oh, the worries are well-expressed, with Anna trying to be very hard to be strong about it.
Sarah turned and looked out over the plains.
“No,” she said. “There is no sea here. But the land rools a little like the sea.”
My father did not see her look, but I did. And I knew that Caleb has seen it, too. Sarah was not smiling. Sarah was already lonely. In a month’s time the preacher might come to marry Sarah and Papa. And a month was a long time. Time enough for her to change her mind and leave us…
I wish everything was as perfect as the stone. I wished that Papas and Caleb and I were perfect for Sarah. I wished we had a sea of our own. –page 23-24
Then there is the issue with regards to Sarah’s low self-esteem, insisting that she is plain and tall. But in the eyes of the children, she is made out as beautiful because of her love for life, her joy to try new things, and her ability to be able to communicate with them.
The most touching part, for me, is when Sarah brought the sea to the prairie. And that would be something you should find out for yourself. But one thing is for sure, the story portrays brave children and their desire to keep their family together—a desire so strong it pains them emotionally after experiencing loneliness and abandonment.
Five stars!
February 7, 2011
The 1986 Newberry Award Winner is one of the smoothest books I have read. Because it is a small book with only sixty seven pages, I wondered why it was chosen for the Newberry Gold Medallion. I quickly realized why. Once I started reading, it is so rich in word diction it makes the words and dialogue move in rhthym, like a slow moving river of words.
The story is told in first person, and it takes place in the 19th century, at the home of a young girl, Anna, on the open prairie with her father and brother Caleb. Her mother died during childbirth and in need of a wife and new mother for the children, her father puts and advertisment in the paper, back north, asking for a wife. He recieves a responce from Sarah Wheaton who lives in Maine. It is a touching story of people coming together and working out their difference to become a family.
This is definately a girl book for anyone ages eight and up, who enjoy touching stories. I would highly recommend the book to any reluctant reader.
The story is told in first person, and it takes place in the 19th century, at the home of a young girl, Anna, on the open prairie with her father and brother Caleb. Her mother died during childbirth and in need of a wife and new mother for the children, her father puts and advertisment in the paper, back north, asking for a wife. He recieves a responce from Sarah Wheaton who lives in Maine. It is a touching story of people coming together and working out their difference to become a family.
This is definately a girl book for anyone ages eight and up, who enjoy touching stories. I would highly recommend the book to any reluctant reader.
February 6, 2012
I finished reading "Sarah, Plain and tall" in English today. The book is very easy to read, but the story is very beautiful.
The story is consisted of a diary keeping by Anna. When she had her baby brother, her mom was dead. Therefore, her dad found his children's mother over the newspaper. One tall woman came to their house to become their mother. The story is continuing five other books.
Right now I'm reading third book of Sarah series.
The story is consisted of a diary keeping by Anna. When she had her baby brother, her mom was dead. Therefore, her dad found his children's mother over the newspaper. One tall woman came to their house to become their mother. The story is continuing five other books.
Right now I'm reading third book of Sarah series.
April 26, 2012
Great series for children! We are reading these books aloud at bedtime, and I really like the old-fashioned values and the simpler, down-to-earth times portrayed in the stories. These books are probably a second grade reading level, but are still interesting to older children. It reminds me of the Little House series, but on an easier level.
July 10, 2013
We listened to this story at the end of a trip and enjoyed the description of life on the prairies in the early 1900s. I like that the sequels Skylark and Caleb's Story are from the journals or perspectives of the children Anna and Caleb. The books have made my children want to write in their journals more, which is a plus!
June 2, 2010
i thought this book to be very dry and straight forward. No deviation and the main wonder of the book is if Sarah will stay and you find out at the end of the book. No excitement and no real emotion connected me to the book.
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March 26, 2009 I got this set for my Birthday last year and I have only read the first one, but sometime I will read the rest!
August 2, 2010
Great 1 hour read-alouds that were so pleasant. Loved the gentle love story throughout, the life lessons, the simplistic way of writing. The fam seemed to enjoy them, as well.
October 18, 2010
This was a wonderful book that Carson and I read together. I love this story. The movie is better, but it is a wonderful story.
August 4, 2011
I am reading this book to my sweet nieces. I hope they like it as much as I did as a kid!
July 18, 2011
i raed this book in 3rd grade it was o.kk
July 19, 2011
This chapter book is a good choice for young readers who are ready for chapters, but not necessarily long books. The story is appropriate and enjoyable for all ages.
December 3, 2011
You know, I don't like short stories as much, but this is still a great book.
February 24, 2014
Enjoy reading this to my kids
August 9, 2010
Too short. Not enough insight into characters in the story.
December 24, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews