Title: Sarah, Plain And Tall
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Illustrator: Patricia MacLachlan
Publisher: Harper Collins Books
Year Published: 1985
Format: Paperback
Genre: Children's novel
Reading Level: Independent Reader
Reading Interest Level: Upper Elementary, Middle School
Topics: Newbery Award, Family, Relationships, happiness.
Summary: Sarah, Plain and Tall consists of family living in a small Midwestern farm. The family is very happy until one day Anna and Caleb's father explains to them his longing for a wife. Although he was very nervous about the discussion, Caleb and Anna enthusiastically agree because they too had been wishing for a mother figure in their life. The family puts up an advertisement and they get a response. Sarah is from Maine and after a couple of letters back and fourth she is ready to come to the farm. Everyone is excited but is also nervous because Sarah loves her house in Maine and the sea, but when they meet her they instantly fall in love with her. Although they remain scared in the end that they will get left because Sarah is homesick, in the end, they find out what a true family is.
Extension Activity:
-Make a character analysis chart. Have the kids write down character descriptions, qualities, and make decisive inferences of every main character.
-Ask children what they thought the differences were from back then to now-a-days. How was the farm life in the Midwest different then yours? And explain if you think the families priorities were different than yours, or not?
-Draw a picture of what you think the family looked like based on the descriptions in the book.
