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WORK TITLE: Painting the Game
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CITY: Williamsburg
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 381
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PERSONAL
Born March 3, 1938, in Cheyenne, WY; died March 31, 2022, in Williamsburg, MA; daughter of Philo (a teacher) and Madonna (a teacher) Pritzkau; married Robert MacLachlan (a clinical psychologist), April 14, 1962 (died October 17, 2015); children: John, Jamie, Emily.
EDUCATION:University of Connecticut, B.A., 1962.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. Bennett Junior High School, Manchester, CT, English teacher, 1963-79; Smith College, Northampton, MA, visiting lecturer, beginning 1986; writer. Lecturer; social worker; teacher of creative writing workshops for adults and children. Member of board, Children’s Aid Family Service Agency, 1970-80, and National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance.
AWARDS:Golden Kite Award, Society of Children’s Book Writers, 1980, for Arthur, for the Very First Time; Notable Book citation, American Library Association (ALA), 1980, for Arthur, for the Very First Time, 1984, for both Unclaimed Treasures and Sarah, Plain and Tall, and 1988, for The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt; Notable Children’s Trade Book designation, National Council for Social Studies/Children’s Book Council, 1980, for Through Grandpa’s Eyes, 1982, for Mama One, Mama Two, and 1985, for Sarah, Plain and Tall; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, 1984, for Unclaimed Treasures; Horn Book Honor List inclusion, 1984, for Unclaimed Treasures, and 1985, for Sarah, Plain and Tall; Golden Kite Award, Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction Award, and New York Times Notable Children’s Books of the Year designation, both 1985, ALA Newbery Medal, Jefferson Cup Award, Virginia Library Association, Christopher Award, and Child Study Association of America Children’s Books of the Year selection, all 1986, and Garden State Children’s Book Award, New Jersey Library Association, Charlie May Simon Book Award, Elementary Council of the Arkansas Department of Education, and International Board on Books for Young People Honor List selection, all for Sarah, Plain and Tall; Judy Lopez Memorial Award Honor Book selection, 1986, for Sarah, Plain and Tall, 1989, for The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, and 1992, for Journey; Parents’ Choice Award, Parents’ Choice Foundation, 1988, and Horn Book Fanfare citation, 1989, both for The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt; University of Southern Mississippi Medallion for body of work; National Humanities Medal, 2003, for body of work; ALA Notable Children’s Books designation, 2007, for Once I Ate a Pie; 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing selection, New York Public Library, 2013, for The Truth of Me; Best Children’s Books selection, Bank Street College of Education, 2015, for Fly Away; Best Children’s Books selection, Bank Street College of Education, and ALA Notable Children’s Books designation, both 2015, both for The Iridescence of Birds.
WRITINGS
Work included in anthologies, including Newbery Award Library II, edited by Joseph Krumgold, Harper (New York, NY), 1988; and Acting Out: Six One-act Plays! Six Newbery Stars!, edited by Justin Chanda, Atheneum (New York, NY), 2008.
Arthur, for the Very First Time was adapted as a filmstrip with cassette, Pied Piper, 1984. Sarah, Plain and Tall was adapted as a filmstrip with cassette, Random House, 1986, as a television film starring Glenn Close, 1991, and as a musical by Julia Jordan, Nell Benjamin, and Laurence O’Keefe, produced in New York, NY, 2002. Baby was adapted for film.
SIDELIGHTS
Best known for her novel Sarah, Plain and Tall, which was adapted for film and received a prestigious Newbery Medal, Patricia MacLachlan was the author of dozens of books for children and young adults. Populated by eccentric, endearing characters and often focusing on family relationships, MacLachlan’s works have been hailed as tender, humorous, and perceptive. Her other award-winning stories include The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, Fly Away, and The Iridescence of Birds: A Book about Henri Matisse.
Born in Wyoming and reared in Minnesota, MacLachlan was shaped by her prairie upbringing, and she kept with her a sack containing soil from her birthplace as a symbol of that austere prairie environment. As an only child, she benefited from strong family relationships and developed an active imagination. MacLachlan’s parents were teachers and they encouraged her to read, her mother often saying, “Read a book and find out who you are,” as the author recalled in Horn Book. She read voraciously, discussing books with her parents and sometimes even acting out scenes. As she recalled in Horn Book, “I can still feel the goose bumps as I, in the fur of Peter Rabbit, fled from the garden and Mr. McGregor—played with great ferocity by my father—to the coat closet. … Some days I would talk my father into acting out the book a dozen times in a row, with minor changes here and there or major differences that reversed the plot.”
After graduating from college and working as an English teacher for sixteen years, MacLachlan began creating picture books. Her first published work, The Sick Day, details how a little girl with a cold is cared for by her father. In another, Through Grandpa’s Eyes, she explores how a young boy is taught by his blind grandfather to “see” the world through his other senses. “Though the tone of this story is gentle and warm,” Natalie Babbitt wrote in appraising Through Grandpa’s Eyes for the New York Times Book Review, “it also has well-measured moments of humor, and is never sentimental.”
Encouraged by her editor, MacLachlan soon started writing novels for slightly older readers. Her first, Arthur, for the Very First Time, describes a young boy’s emotional growth during a summer spent with his great-uncle and great-aunt. “Fine characterization, an intriguing mix of people and problems, and the author’s remarkable knack for leaving between the lines things best unsaid are some of the strengths of the novel,” maintained Booklist reviewer Judith Goldberger. Zena Sutherland commented in the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books that MacLachlan’s debut novel “has a deep tenderness, a gentle humor, and a beautifully honed writing style.”
A character in Arthur, for the Very First Time provided the seed for MacLachlan’s best-known work, Sarah, Plain and Tall. The character of Aunt Mag, a mail-order bride (a woman who, in past times, acquired a husband by answering a newspaper advertisement), was actually a distant relative of MacLachlan’s. In Sarah, Plain and Tall the title character answers a newspaper advertisement and then travels to meet Jacob Witting, a lonely widower who needs help raising his children, Anna and Caleb, on the Midwestern prairie. When Sarah arrives, the children take to her immediately and hope she will stay and marry their father. Considered a poignant and finely wrought tale, Sarah, Plain and Tall garnered widespread critical acclaim, Margery Fisher writing in Growing Point that MacLachlan’s tale ranks as a “small masterpiece.”
A sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall, Skylark, “does not suffer” in comparison with the original, according to Horn Book contributor Mary M. Burns. As this story opens, a terrible drought has overwhelmed Sarah and Jacob Witting’s farm. To alleviate their problems, Sarah takes Anna and Caleb to visit her aunts in coastal Maine, where life is easier than on a hardscrabble farm in the plains. The only news of the farm comes in letters from Jacob, until the day he appears in Maine to collect his family. Rain has finally come to the plains, and Sarah is expecting a child. With renewed hope, the Witting family returns to the farm, where Sarah symbolically writes her own name in the land. “This stirring novel’s flawlessly crafted dialogue and imagery linger long after the final, hopeful message is delivered” by young Caleb, “who looks forward to arrival of spring and of his new sibling,” wrote the Publishers Weekly reviewer.
Caleb narrates the continuing history of the Witting family in the aptly titled Caleb’s Story. Anna has moved to town to attend school and work for the local doctor while the newest arrival to the Witting family, Cassie, grows up on the farm. Jacob’s father abandoned his own farm and was presumed dead years ago. When he now returns, a conflict erupts between father and son that Caleb helps to resolve. In Caleb’s Story “the relationships are believable, the emotions ring true, and MacLachlan has an unabated gift for clean, well-honed dialogue that carries its resonant meanings with unusual grace,” wrote a Horn Book reviewer.
In More Perfect than the Moon, Cassie Witting is now eight years old and a budding writer. In her journal entries she records the things that happen to her family and her feelings about them, as well as including the stories she makes up to entertain herself. As Kay Weisman commented in her Booklist review of More Perfect than the Moon, the story’s “solid, believable characters face classic dilemmas, yet the ending feels neither pat nor predictable.” In Horn Book, Christine M. Heppermann also praised the novel, writing that, “as usual, MacLachlan infuses her story with graceful, affectionate images of life on the prairie.”
Grandfather’s Dance completes the saga MacLachlan began with Sarah, Plain and Tall as Anna is aided by Sarah in planning her wedding day. Far-away family members come home for the celebration, Caleb from school and William from Maine. Cassie, the narrator, is now in fourth grade and joins little brother Jack in anticipating the event-filled occasion. As the characters’ activities reflect “the changing times,” MacLachlan’s final plot twist also reflects the inevitable transition from generation to generation, her “beautifully straightforward language” capturing the honorable foundation of her Midwestern cast of characters, according to School Library Journal critic Pat Leach.
The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt finds eleven-year-old Minna teetering on the edge of adolescence and confronting many changes while also striving to develop as a musician. While she practices her cello to develop her vibrato, Minna also wishes that her eccentric mother, a writer, could be more like a typical “mother.” Then she meets Lucas Ellerby, a violinist who has the quiet and peaceful home Minna desires. Raised in a traditional home, Lucas is fascinated by Minna’s unusual family, and the two ultimately experience their first romance. In The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, “MacLachlan has created a wonderfully wise and funny story with such satisfying depths and unforgettable characters that one is reluctant to let it go,” according to a Horn Book reviewer.
MacLachlan’s fictional story in Word after Word after Word was inspired by the teachers and other mentors who furthered her career. While spending a month with the students in Lucy’s fourth-grade class, Ms. Mirabel, a visiting poet, helps the girl use stories to discover the things around her that make her world unique. MacLachlan’s “strong, spare novel” holds inspiration for budding writers, asserted a Publishers Weekly critic, through its “message that everyone has a story in them.” A family drama, The Truth of Me centers on Robbie, a youngster who comes to terms with his mother’s aloof parenting style after his eccentric grandmother reveals a secret from their family’s past. Sarah Bean Thompson applauded this “spare, poetically composed tale” in a Booklist review.
In White Fur Flying, MacLachlan offers “a graceful and quiet narrative with keen observations on how time and affection can remedy pain,” according to a Publishers Weekly critic. The work centers on Zoe, a gregarious youngster, and her pet Kodi, a Great Pyrenees who helps a silent, withdrawn boy come out of his shell. In Booklist, Daniel Kraus suggested that White Fur Flying “is tailor-made for beginning readers looking for a gentle handling of powerfully felt emotions.”
Fly Away tells the story of Lucy, the only non-vocalist in a family of singers. When her little brother goes missing just as a nearby river threatens to overflow its banks, Lucy discovers how powerful her voice can be. A contributor in Publishers Weekly reported of Fly Away that “MacLachlan again demonstrates a gift for combining an economy of prose with a bounty of emotion.”
A testament to her skill and talent, MacLachlan was chosen to write a prequel to Gertrude Chandler Warner’s classic children’s novel The Boxcar Children. In The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm she follows the adventures of Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden in the year before the tragic accident will take the lives of their parents and force the quartet to flee the region to avoid being separated. “Both in style and events, this recalls books written in a much earlier era,” remarked Booklist critic Ilene Cooper, and Horn Book critic Susan Dove Lempke applauded “MacLachlan’s smooth, accessible narrative” in The Boxcar Children Beginning.
While finding success in longer fiction, MacLachlan continued to produce much-admired picture books. Featuring artwork by Steven Kellogg, her lyrical Snowflakes Fall was written to commemorate the lives lost in the 2012 school shooting in Newton, Connecticut. “Accentuating the rebirth found in nature’s cycle,” observed Joy Fleishhacker in School Library Journal, “text and images depict the process of healing and renewal … and the power of hope.” A work of historical fiction, Nora’s Chicks concerns the daughter of Russian immigrants and her difficult adjustment to life on the American prairie, which is made easier when she bonds with the flock of birds her father brings to the homestead. A writer in Kirkus Reviews described Nora’s Chicks as “a heartwarming—but never saccharine—tale with an old-fashioned feel.”
Echoing themes explored by MacLachlan in her popular children’s novel Skylark, her picture book What You Know First tells the story of a girl whose parents have been forced to sell their farm and move elsewhere. Heartbroken, she begins to catalogue the things about the farm and the country that she will miss, and even tries to come up with reasons for not moving. In the end, she cannot avoid the inevitable, but she takes some tangible reminders with her: a bag of prairie dirt and cuttings from a beloved cottonwood tree. Illustrated by Barry Moser, What You Know First “touches the heart,” wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer.
Among MacLachlan’s picture books are several collaborations with her daughter, Emily MacLachlan Charest. In their story Painting the Wind, illustrated by Katy Schneider, a young artist finds inspiration from the dozens of painters who migrate to his island and work at their easels every summer. In Booklist, Julie Cummins wrote that the coauthors’ story “gets to the heart of creativity in a way children will understand.” Mother and daughter also teamed up for Cat Talk, a collection of poems featuring a variety of colorful feline narrators. “Effectively utilizing mood-setting rhythms, cadences, and word choices, each first-person free-verse selection perfectly suits the personality of its particular subject,” Fleishhacker noted.
Two other collaborations between MacLachlan and Charest, the companion picture books Once I Ate a Pie and I Didn’t Do It, pair artwork by Schneider with free-verse poems that capture the world view of a succession of disobedient dogs. In School Library Journal, Linda Ludke dubbed I Didn’t Do It “an irresistible treat for animal lovers,” while Once I Ate a Pie could serve young readers “as inspiration … for young poets trying to describe their own pets,” according to Judith Constantinides in the same periodical.
MacLachlan explores the childhood of celebrated French painter Henri Matisse in her picture book The Iridescence of Birds, which features illustrations by Hadley Hooper. Here she shows how Matisse, who grew up in a dreary village in northern France, was influenced by his mother’s devotion to the arts and her extensive use of color throughout their home. “MacLachlan distills Matisse’s first experiences, assembling them in rough detail to communicate their emotional impact,” as Thom Barthelmess explained in Booklist. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that the author’s “poetic, careful and concentrated text captures the essence of Matisse’s childhood experiences and draws powerful parallels with his later life and work.”
(open new)Another real creative figure is the star of MacLachlan’s 2022 picture book, My Poet, which features illustrations by Jen Hill. The title character is Mary Oliver, revered writer. In the volume, set in Cape Cod, Mary, an older woman, has a friendship with a young girl named Lucy. The two explore nature in their seaside community, and as they spend time together, Mary shares advice on how to compose poetry. Karen Cruze, contributor to Booklist, described the volume as “a sweet paean to inspiration and contemplation.” A Publishers Weekly writer predicted that it would be “uplifting for anyone who has engaged in creative process.” A critic in Kirkus Reviews suggested that the book “will empower kids to realize they, too, can be poets.”(close new—more below)
In the children’s novel The Poet’s Dog, MacLachlan tells the story of a magical dog that can talk. Teddy is an Irish wolfhound and lived with a poet named Sylvan, who rescued Teddy from a shelter. Only poets and children can understand the dog when it speaks. Sylvan ends up dying, and then Teddy a few days later rescues two children from a horrendous blizzard. Teddy takes Flora and Nickel back to the remote cabin, and the story relates the children’s current adventure as well as Teddy’s own tale. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called The Poet’s Dog “a quiet, elegant, poignant story suffused with humor, heart, and goodness.” A Publishers Weekly contributor remarked: “MacLachlan creates a spare, moving tale told from the perspective of Teddy.”
Barkus is a chapter book that features another dog at the center of a story told in five short chapters. Barkus is Nicky’s new pet and the big, brown dog appears to be the perfect pet, friendly to all, including a pet kitten. Barkus and the kitten spend the nigh sleeping in a tent in the backyard with Nicky, helping her overcome her fear of the dark. “Nicky tells the dog and kitten a bedtime story, which effectively summarizes the entire book in an amusing way,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Elisa Gall, writing in Horn Book, noted, “Friendship and family are at the heart of this easy reader.” Someone Like Me is a picture book called a “semi autobiographical charmer” by a Kirkus Reviews contributor. The book features various illustrated vignettes, beginning with an older white-haired woman walking with a young girl. Various images are presented as MacLachlan reminisces about her youth, from hiding under the dining room table and listening to grownups talk to a dog that the little girl pretends can talk by tugging on its lips. “The evocative telling of these and other memories becomes as important as their content,” wrote Carolyn Phelan in Booklist. According to a Publishers Weekly contributor, McLachlan imparts the idea that all that is needed to become a writer “is the willingness to watch and listen.”
The picture book The Hundred-year Barn tells the story of a farm family through a barn on their property. The narrator is five years old when he sees his father, along with friends and relatives, build the barn and celebrate its completion. “The barn will be called the hundred-year barn,” the father announces. The years go by, and the narrator grows up and takes over the farm. He chronicles the seasons that pass and his observations of the livestock occupying the barn, and he eventually finds his father’s wedding ring, lost during the barn’s construction, in a surprising place. MacLachlan and illustrator Kenard Pak “invite readers into the rhythms of the small family farm and important moments, small and great,” related a Publishers Weekly reviewer. A Kirkus Reviews critic noted that the book includes “an abundance of details that will appeal to children with no firsthand experience with farming,” then summed it up as “a cozy filter through which to imagine growing up.”
Another farm-set picture book, Chicken Talk, is about chickens who have suddenly become literate, scratching messages in the dirt to make demands of their human keepers. The chickens make it known that they are tired of eating arugula, they need a fan to cool their coop, and they want to hear stories about brave and adventurous members of their species. Soon the chickens are celebrities, as the local postal carrier has spread the word about them. Visitors arrive to photograph them and their messages, and to buy their eggs. Horn Book reviewer Martha V. Parravano found the story “slight but charming,” noting that MacLachlan’s writing “is sweet and gently humorous.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor summed up the tale as “a sweet, silly, and slightly surreal celebration of individuality and connection.”
The children’s novel Just Dance is set in rural Wyoming, where ten-year-old Sylvie Bloom lives with her family. Her mother is a soprano who once sang in European concert halls. The mother still sings, which has a calming effect on the farm animals, as well as Sylvie and Sylvie’s father and brother. Sylvie thinks about her mother’s once glamorous life and wonders how she could have given it all up. Meanwhile, Sylvie has ambitions of her own and finds some excitement writing for the local newspaper. Just Dance “showcases MacLachlan’s gifts for rich characterization, honest emotion, and deceptive simplicity,” wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Writing in Booklist, Ilene Cooper remarked, “MacLachlan’s writing is so immediate that it draws readers in and holds them close.”
The novel Dream within a Dream deals with a brother and sister who dread change but find themselves enriched by it over the course of a summer. Louisa, who is almost twelve and hopes to be a writer, and her younger brother, Theo, arrive at the farm home of their paternal grandparents, Boots and Jake, to spend the summer, as they do every year while their parents, avid birdwatchers, travel in search of new sightings. Louisa expresses her hatred of change, but grandmother Boots tells her change can help her discover who she is. Louisa does encounter a positive change in her romantic attraction to a neighbor, George, the son of a Tanzanian immigrant. “Why, when I look in the mirror now, do I suddenly look beautiful for the very first time in my life?” Louisa ponders at one point. She also finds that grandfather Jake is losing his eyesight, and she must make adjustments that actually strengthen their already close relationship. Meanwhile, Theo is the driving force behind another change. Dream within a Dream is a “resonant story of community, love new and old, and embracing the unknown,” observed a Publishers Weekly contributor. A Kirkus Reviews critic remarked that MacLachlan has crafted “a prose poem of discovery told as a story of interconnected lives and feelings,” then concluded: “This book clings to the heart and echoes in the soul for days.”
MacLachlan released Prairie Days in 2020. Illustrated by Micha Archer, the story tells of childhood memories of life on the vast expanse of the American prairie. The narrator recalls a landscape speckled by small towns. The artwork and narration align to showcase all aspects of rural life during or before the mid-1900s. Opening at the beginning of day, readers see the sunrise over the naked prairie. The narrator discusses the flowers, the smells, and recalled impressions of a simpler life. As the sun goes down and moonlight illuminates the fields, the narrator tucks into a quilt to read. “Childhoods as free as this one are not as common as they once were; borrowing MacLachlan’s is the next best thing,” wrote a contributor to Publishers Weekly. Prairie Days is “a deeply nostalgic look at once-upon-a-time Midwest farm life,” wrote a critic writing in Kirkus Reviews.
(open new)MacLachlan and Archer collaborate again in Snow Horses, set on New Year’s Eve. The volume finds a girl named Jenny greeting horses Tim and Tom, large Percherons who are hitched to a sleigh by their driver. The driver takes Jenny and other passengers on a snowy ride around town, picking up new passengers from a home for elderly people on their journey. The next day, it is sunny, and the residents of the town wish one another a happy new year. “It’s a celebratory winter story that many can share,” asserted a Publishers Weekly critic. Carolyn Phelan, contributor to Booklist, described the volume as “a brilliantly colorful, seasonal picture book.” A Kirkus Reviews writer called it “a quiet, deeply satisfying celebration of the turn of the year and the joy of community.”(close new—more below)
Milo cares for his grandfather in MacLachlan’s When Grandfather Flew, illustrated by Chris Sheban. Released in 2021, the story follows the youngest grandchild in the family as he acts as his grandfather’s eyes as the man’s own eyesight begins to fade. Milo has not always been a good listener according to the narrator, who happens to also be Milo’s older sister. Acting as grandfather’s eyes means taking him out to experience the world in ways that work with his failing eyesight. At first, grandfather loves birdwatching and names all the different birds he sees. When his loss of eyesight is more complete, Milo takes over, proving he had been listening to his grandfather all along. When grandfather is no longer around, Milo also helps the family understand why. “MacLachlan creates deeply sympathetic characters in a few sentences, and invites readers to share in the lives of a family nurtured by the natural world—and comforted by it in their grief,” wrote a contributor to Publishers Weekly. In Kirkus Reviews, a contributor called When Grandfather Flew “warm, calming, affectionate, quietly soaring.” Discussing the work on the Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, MacLachlan explained, “ When Grandfather Flew comes out of my family and our love of the birds and life on our mountain top. We banded birds and traced their migrations and took care of birds when they flew into our windows and couldn’t fly—then let them fly again.”
Twin siblings Nora and Ben discover a family secret in A Secret Shared. Mother is a newspaper columnist writing an article about ancestry. She brings home a DNA test that will be sent to a lab to show mother’s ancestral lineage. Of course, the family already knows that mother’s background is Irish. Father is also asked to take the test, which he refuses, but everyone knows father’s heritage is Italian. Their youngest daughter, Birdy, takes father’s discarded DNA kit and uses it herself. Confusion abounds when the results of mother’s DNA test come back showing she is actually Swedish. It turns out, after Birdy took father’s test, she swapped it out with her mother’s, which was then sent in to be tested instead. Moreover, the Swedish result illuminates something that shocks the twins: Birdy is adopted. They ask their teacher what it all means and are relieved to find out that it means as much or as little as they feel it should. “The tale unfolds gently, with MacLachlan’s signature grace and luminous simplicity,” commented a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. In Publishers Weekly a contributor concluded, “Especially moving is the depiction of the parents’ love for each other as well as their children as they move forward into their newly shared truth.”
(open new)Another illustrated middle-grade novel, My Life Begins!, follows nine-year-old Jacob Black, as he navigates becoming a brother for the first time. Lonely as an only child, Jacob wishes for a new addition to the family, like the little of puppies that his friend Bella has just gotten. However, instead of pets, Jacob gets three little sisters, triplets Katherine, Charlotte, and Elizabeth, whom he calls, the Trips. Initially, Jacob is less than enthusiastic about their arrival. However, after a special moment with Elizabeth, he develops a keen interest in them, even choosing to do a class research project on them. As the babies grow, Jacob observes their unique personalities and becomes closer with each of them. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the book a “slender, resonant novel.” A critic in Kirkus Reviews described it as “precious.”
In Painting the Game, Lucy Chance is an eleven-year-old, who, like her father, is devoted to the game of baseball. Lucy plays on her school’s team, the Yard Goats, while her father is in the minor leagues. Dad is called up to play on the Red Sox, and Lucy is given the opportunity to throw the first pitch at his first game for the team. At first, Lucy is nervous, but she finds the courage to throw the pitch, putting in hours of practice to perfect her knuckleball. Lucy’s friends, Robin and Tex, as well as her family members, offer her support. “This will appeal to baseball fans and those looking for warm family dynamics,” suggested Kay Weisman in Booklist. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews described the book as “quietly joyful and triumphant.” A Publishers Weekly writer remarked: “Lucy’s gentle, understated narration and persistence toward her goal keep it grounded in authenticity.”(close new)
MacLachlan remained heartened by children’s reactions to her work. “It’s hugely gratifying to know that kids all over read what I write,” she once noted. Affirming the importance of encouraging young writers, she visits schools and gives writing workshops. “In my experience, children believe that writers are like movie stars. I am often asked if I arrived in a limousine,” MacLachlan remarked. “I admit that sometimes I’m a little flattered at the exalted idea kids have about writers. But more importantly, I feel it’s crucial that kids who aspire to write understand that I have to rewrite and revise as they do. Ours is such a perfectionist society—I see too many kids who believe that if they don’t get it right the first time, they aren’t writers.”
In 2019 MacLachlan, who was then past eighty and had been gradually losing her eyesight, told Casper Star Tribune interviewer Elysia Conner that she had an endless stream of ideas for books and no plans to quit writing. Her diminished vision had forced her to stop driving, “so I kind of bring the world in, since I can’t get out and drive,” MacLachlan said. She added, “I have eight books coming out in the next couple of years. What do you think about that for an old blind woman?” MacLachlan died on March 31, 2022, at her home in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Children’s Literature Review, Volume 14, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1988.
Russell, David L., Patricia MacLachlan, Twayne (New York, NY), 1997.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 15, 1980, Judith Goldberger, review of Arthur, for the Very First Time, pp. 328-329; April 1, 1982, Denise M. Wilms, review of Mama One, Mama Two, pp. 1019-1020; May 1, 1985, Betsy Hearne, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, pp. 1254, 1256; March 15, 1992, review of Journey, p. 1364; January 1, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 827; May 15, 1994, Nancy McCray, review of Baby, p. 1701; June 1, 1994, Stephanie Zvirin, review of All the Places to Love, p. 1810; February 15, 2001, review of The Sick Day, p. 1141; September 1, 2001, review of Caleb’s Story, p. 107; August, 2003, Julie Cummins, review of Painting the Wind, p. 1980; June 1, 2004, Kay Weisman, review of More Perfect than the Moon, p. 1726, and Jennifer Mattson, review of Bittle, p. 1743; June 1, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of Who Loves Me?, p. 1822; May 1, 2006, Abby Nolan, review of Once I Ate a Pie, p. 87; July 1, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of Grandfather’s Dance, p. 55; March 15, 2010, Carolyn Phelan, review of Word after Word after Word, p. 43; August 1, 2012, Ilene Cooper, review of The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm, p. 74; December 1, 2012, Daniel Kraus, review of White Fur Flying, p. 68; February 1, 2013, Carolyn Phelan, review of Nora’s Chicks, p. 64; September 1, 2013, Jeanne McDermott, review of Snowflakes Fall, p. 104, and Sarah Bean Thompson, review of The Truth of Me, p. 121; September 15, 2013, Ilene Cooper, review of You Were the First, p. 67; April 1, 2014, Carolyn Phelan, review of Fly Away, p. 88; June 1, 2014, Thom Barthelmess, review of The Iridescence of Birds: A Book about Henri Matisse, p. 84; July 1, 2016, Ilene Cooper, review of The Poet’s Dog, p. 74; May 15, 2017, Carolyn Phelan, review of Someone Like Me, p. 59; July 1, 2017, Ilene Cooper, review of Just Dance, p. 58; September 15, 2022, Karen Cruze, review of My Poet, p. 59; November 1, 2022, Carolyn Phelan, review of Snow Horses, p. 78; February 15, 2024, Kay Weisman, review of Painting the Game, p. 67.
Books for Keeps, May, 1993, review of Journey, p. 15; July, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 11; September, 1998, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 22.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, September, 1979, Zena Sutherland, review of The Sick Day, pp. 11-12; September, 1980, Zena Sutherland, review of Arthur, for the Very First Time, pp. 15-16; April, 1982, Zena Sutherland, review of Mama One, Mama Two, pp. 153-154; January, 1992, review of Three Names, p. 132; September, 1993, review of Baby, p. 16; February, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 194; July, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 367; December, 1995, review of What You Know First, p. 132; October, 2001, review of Caleb’s Story, p. 68; November, 2004, Karen Coates, review of More Perfect than the Moon, p. 134; November, 2010, Deborah Stevenson, review of I Didn’t Do It, p. 139; March, 2013, Deborah Stevenson, review of Cat Talk, p. 342, and Jeannette Hulick, review of Nora’s Chicks, p. 342; October, 2013, review of The Truth of Me, p. 103; June, 2014, Hope Morrison, review of Fly Away, p. 530.
Casper Star Tribune (Casper, WY), November 9, 2019, Elysia Conner, “‘Sarah, Plain and Tall’ Author Patricia MacLachlan Remains Inspired by Native Wyoming.”
Children’s Book Review Service, April, 1980, Ruth W. Bauer, review of Through Grandpa’s Eyes, p. 84; June, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 126; September, 1995, review of What You Know First, p. 7.
Children’s Literature, March, 1995, review of Unclaimed Treasures, p. 202.
Christian Science Monitor, November 5, 1993, review of Baby, p. 10; May 6, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 12.
Emergency Librarian, January, 1992, review of Journey, p. 50; January, 1992, review of Three Names, p. 50; November, 1993, review of Baby, p. 46; May, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 45.
Five Owls, November, 1993, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, pp. 29-30; November, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 25, 28; May, 1995, review of Skylark, p. 95, 100.
Growing Point, March, 1987, Margery Fisher, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 4750.
Horn Book, February, 1983, Ann A. Flowers, review of Cassie Binegar, pp. 45-46; July-August, 1986, Patricia MacLachlan, transcript of Newbery Medal acceptance speech, pp. 407-413; July-August, 1986, Robert MacLachlan, “A Hypothetical Dilemma,” pp. 416-419; July-August, 1988, review of The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, pp. 495-496; November-December, 1989, Charlotte Zolotow, author interview, pp. 736-745; November-December, 1993, Mary M. Burns, review of Baby, pp. 746-747; July-August, 1994, Mary M. Burns, review of Skylark, pp. 453-454; January-February, 1996, Nancy Vasilakis, review of What You Know First, pp. 66-67; January, 1998, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 26; September, 2001, review of Caleb’s Story, p. 590; September-October, 2004, Christine M. Heppermann, review of More Perfect than the Moon, p. 590; November-December, 2006, Christine M. Heppermann, review of Grandfather’s Dance, p. 719; November-December, 2009, Jennifer M. Brabander, review of The True Gift: A Christmas Story, p. 644; November-December, 2013, Roger Sutton, review of Snowflakes Fall, p. 78; November-December, 2014, Joanna Rudger Long, review of The Iridescence of Birds, p. 124; July-August, 2017, Elisa Gall, review of Barkus, p. 137; January-February, 2019, Martha V. Parravano, review of Chicken Talk, p. 79; September-October, 2022, Kitty Flynn, review of My Life Begins!, p. 90.
Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 71; June 15, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 848; August, 15, 1995, review of What You Know First, p. 1190; October 1, 2001, review of Caleb’s Story, p. 1428; April 15, 2003, review of Painting the Wind, p. 609; May 15, 2004, review of Bittle, p. 494; July 15, 2004, review of More Perfect than the Moon, p. 690; May 1, 2005, review of Who Loves Me?, p. 542; August 1, 2006, review of Grandfather’s Dance, p. 791; July 15, 2007, review of Edward’s Eyes; September 15, 2009, review of The True Gift; August 1, 2012, review of The Boxcar Children Beginning; December 15, 2012, review of Nora’s Chicks; January 15, 2013, review of White Fur Flying; June 1, 2013, review of The Truth of Me; August 15, 2013, reviews of You Were the First and Snowflakes Fall; September 1, 2014, review of The Iridescence of Birds; June 1, 2016, review of The Poet’s Dog; March 15, 2017, review of Barkus; June 1, 2017, review of Someone Like Me; July 15, 2017, review of Just Dance; July 15, 2018, review of Barkus Dog Dreams; September 15, 2018, review of Chicken Talk; March 15, 2019, review of Dream within a Dream; June 15, 2019, review of The Hundred-year Barn; November 1, 2019, review of Wondrous Rex; March 15, 2020, review of Prairie Days; June 1, 2021, review of When Grandfather Flew; August 1, 2021, review of A Secret Shared; July 1, 2022, review of My Poet;August 15, 2022, review of My Life Begins!;September 1, 2022, review of Snow Horses;May 1, 2024, review of Painting the Game.
Kliatt, March, 1994, reviews of Journey and Baby, both p. 54.
Los Angeles Times Book Review, December 17, 1995, review of What You Know First, p. 15.
Magpies, July, 1993, review of Journey, p. 39.
New York Times Book Review, September 28, 1980, Natalie Babbitt, review of Through Grandpa’s Eyes, p. 36; May 19, 1985, Martha Saxton, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 20; January 8, 1989, Heather Vogel Frederick, review of The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, p. 36; March 22, 1992, Nancy Bray Cardozo, review of Journey, p. 25; November 14, 1993, review of Baby, p. 34; June 5, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 30; January 20, 2002, review of Caleb’s Story, p. 15; February 17, 2008, Jessica Bruder, review of Fiona Loves the Night, p. 23; December 20, 2009, Julie Just, review of The True Gift, p. 13.
Orange County Register, September 21, 1994, Catherine Keefe, author interview.
Publishers Weekly, May 9, 1980, review of Through Grandpa’s Eyes, p. 57; December 26, 1980, review of Arthur, for the Very First Time, p. 59; April 16, 1993, review of Baby, p. 104; November 29, 1993, review of Skylark, p. 65; March 21, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 70; April 25, 1994, review of Three Names, p. 81; July 31, 1995, review of What You Know First, p. 79; September 11, 1995, review of Baby, p. 87; February 3, 1997, review of Skylark, p. 108; May 28, 2001, review of The Sick Day, p. 990; September 24, 2001, review of Caleb’s Story, p. 94; October 22, 2001, Jason Britton, review of Caleb’s Story, p. 26; February 10, 2003, review of Painting the Wind, p. 185; July 5, 2004, review of Bittle, p. 55; March 28, 2005, review of Who Loves Me?, p. 79; August 7, 2006, review of Grandfather’s Dance, p. 59, and Jennifer M. Brown, author interview, p. 60; July 16, 2007, review of Edward’s Eyes, p. 165; August 20, 2007, review of Fiona Loves the Night, p. 67; May 17, 2010, review of Word after Word after Word, p. 49; August 9, 2010, review of I Didn’t Do It, p. 50; July 2, 2012, review of The Boxcar Children Beginning, p. 67; November 26, 2012, review of Nora’s Chicks, p. 51; January 7, 2013, review of White Fur Flying, p. 61; January 28, 2013, review of Cat Talk, p. 176; June 3, 2013, review of The Truth of Me, p. 60; July 1, 2013, review of You Were the First, p. 87; September 2, 2013, review of Snowflakes Fall, p. 57; January 27, 2014, review of Fly Away, p. 193; August 18, 2014, review of The Iridescence of Birds, p. 73; June 20, 2016, review of The Poet’s Dog, p. 156; December 2, 2016, review of The Poet’s Dog, p. 66; April 17, 2017, review of Barkus, p. 67; May 22, 2017, review of Someone Like Me, p. 95; June 26, 2017, review of Just Dance, p. 180; November 27, 2018, review of Little Robot Alone, p. 23, and review of Chicken Talk, p. 50; March 4, 2019, review of Dream within a Dream, p. 86; November 27, 2019, review of The Hundred-year Barn, p. 24; December 2, 2020, review of My Friend Earth, p. 20; March 23, 2020, review of Prairie Days, p. 83; July 5, 2021, review of A Secret Shared, p. 68; November 24, 2021, review of When Grandfather Flew, p. 56; June 20, 2022, review of My Life Begins!, p. 142; July 4, 2022, review of My Poet;November 23, 2022, review of Snow Horses, p. 36; January 22, 2024, review of Painting the Game, p. 92.
Quill & Quire, November, 1993, review of Baby, p. 40; February, 1996, review of What You Know First, p. 43.
San Francisco Review of Books, September, 1995, review of Baby, p. 46.
School Librarian, May, 1992, review of Journey, p. 71.
School Library Journal, September, 1982, Wendy Dellett, review of Cassie Binegar, p. 124; May, 1985, Trev Jones, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 93; April, 1992, review of Journey, p. 44; November, 1993, review of Baby, p. 109; March, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 222; June, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 110; June, 1996, review of Arthur, for the Very First Time, p. 55; January, 1998, review of Journey, p. 43; August, 1998, review of Baby, p. 27; September, 2001, review of Caleb’s Story, p. 230; May, 2003, Lee Bock, review of Painting the Wind, p. 125; June, 2004, Kelley Rae Unger, review of Bittle, p. 114; August, 2004, Caroline Ward, review of More Perfect than the Moon, p. 90; December, 2004, Ginny Gustin, review of The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, p. 60; May, 2005, Catherine Threadgill, review of Who Loves Me?, p. 90; May, 2006, Judith Constantinides, review of Once I Ate a Pie, p. 114; November, 2006, Pat Leach, review of Grandfather’s Dance, p. 105; September, 2007, Mary Jean Smith, review of Fiona Loves the Night, p. 171; October, 2007, Marie Orlando, review of Edward’s Eyes, p. 160; October, 2009, Virginia Walter, review of The True Gift, p. 82; July, 2010, Carole Phillips, review of Word after Word after Word, p. 65; October, 2010, Linda Ludke, review of I Didn’t Do It, p. 90; December, 2012, Alison Donnelly, review of The Boxcar Children Beginning, p. 95; March, 2013, Elly Schook, review of White Fur Flying, p. 120, and Joy Fleishhacker, review of Cat Talk, p. 142; July, 2013, Tiffany O’Leary, review of The Truth of Me, p. 66; September, 2013, Joy Fleishhacker, review of Snowflakes Fall, p. 126; March, 2014, Sada Mozer, review of Fly Away, p. 144; August, 2014, Susan E. Murray, review of The Iridescence of Birds, p. 75.
Smithsonian, November, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 34.
Times Educational Supplement, February 14, 1992, review of Journey, p. 30; September 16, 1994, review of Baby, p. 20; June 26, 1998, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 10.
Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), November 14, 1993, review of Baby, p. 7; March 13, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 7; April 10, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 8; January 14, 1996, review of What You Know First, p. 7; October 21, 2001, review of Caleb’s Story, p. 4.
ONLINE
Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, http://deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com/ (October 18, 2021), Deborah Kalb, author interview.
Kirkus Reviews, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (September 14, 2017), Julie Danielson, “Mining Memories With Patricia MacLachlan.”
Patricia M. Newman website, https://www.patriciamnewman.com/ (January 15, 2020), “Meet Patricia MacLachlan.”
Publishers Weekly Online, http://www.publishersweekly.com/ (June 24, 2010), Ingrid Roper, author interview.
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators website, http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com/ (February 14, 2022), author interview.*
OBITUARIES
Horn Book, July-August, 2022, “Obituaries,” p. 149.
New York Times, April 1, 2022, Annabelle Williams, “Patricia MacLachlan, 84, Revered Writer of the Poignant, Sarah, Plain and Tall,” p. B11.
Publishers Weekly Online, (April 5, 2022), Shannon Maughan.
Washington Post, April 5, 2022, Emily Langer, “Patricia MacLachlan, Author of Sarah, Plain and Tall, Dies at 84.”
Patricia MacLachlan
USA flag (1938 - 2022)
Patricia MacLachlan 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; Edward’s Eyes; The True Gift; Waiting for the Magic; White Fur Flying; and Fly Away. She lives in western Massachusetts. Her picture books include Who Loves Me?, Three Names, What You Know First, and All the Places to Love and Bittle, Painting the Wind, and Once I Ate a Pie, which she cowrote with her daughter, Emily.
Awards: Newbery (1986)
Genres: Children's Fiction
Series
Sarah, Plain and Tall Saga
1. Sarah, Plain and Tall (1984)
2. Skylark (1992)
3. Caleb's Story (2001)
4. More Perfect Than the Moon (2004)
5. Grandfather's Dance (2006)
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Boxcar Children Mysteries
The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm (2012)
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Barkus
1. Barkus (2017)
2. Barkus Dog Dreams (2018)
3. Barkus: The Most Fun (2021)
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Novels
Cassie Binegar (1980)
Arthur (1980)
Tomorrow's Wizard (1982)
Unclaimed Treasures (1984)
Seven Kisses in a Row (1988)
The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt (1988)
Journey (1990)
Baby (1993)
Edward's Eyes (2007)
How Was the Night? (2009)
The True Gift (2009)
Word After Word After Word (2010)
Waiting for the Magic (2011)
Kindred Souls (2012)
White Fur Flying (2013)
The Truth of Me (2013)
Fly Away (2014)
The Poet's Dog (2016)
Just Dance (2017)
My Father's Words (2018)
Dream Within a Dream (2019)
A Secret Shared (2021)
My Life Begins! (2022)
Painting the Game (2024)
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Collections
It's Fine to Be Nine (2000) (with others)
It's Heaven to Be Seven (2000) (with others)
Acting Out (2008) (with others)
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Novellas and Short Stories
Wondrous Rex (2020)
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Picture Books hide
The Sick Day (1979)
Through Grandpa's Eyes (1980)
Moon, Stars, Frogs, and Friends (1980)
Mama One Mama Two (1982)
Three Names (1991)
All the Places to Love (1994)
What You Know First (1995)
Painting the Wind (2003) (with Emily MacLachlan)
Bittle (2004) (with Emily MacLachlan)
Who Loves Me? (2005)
Once I Ate a Pie (2006) (with Emily MacLachlan)
Fiona Loves the Night (2007)
I Didn't Do It (2010)
Before You Came (2011) (with Emily MacLachlan Charest)
Your Moon, My Moon (2011)
Lala Salama (2011)
Nora's Chicks (2013)
Cat Talk (2013) (with Emily MacLachlan Charest)
You Were the First (2013)
Snowflakes Fall (2013)
The Iridescence of Birds (2014)
Prairie Days (2015)
The Moon's Almost Here (2016)
Someone Like Me (2017)
Little Robot Alone (2018)
Chicken Talk (2019)
The Hundred-Year Barn (2019)
My Friend Earth (2020)
When Grandfather Flew (2021)
My Poet (2022)
Snow Horses (2022)
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Omnibus editions hide
Baby / Journey (2007)
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Patricia MacLachlan
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Patricia MacLachlan
Born Patricia Marie Pritzkau
March 3, 1938
Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.
Died March 31, 2022 (aged 84)
Williamsburg, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation Writer
Alma mater University of Connecticut
Genre Children's and young-adult novels, historical fiction
Notable awards Newbery Medal
1986
Patricia Marie MacLachlan (née Pritzkau; March 3, 1938 – March 31, 2022) was an American children's writer. She was noted for her novel Sarah, Plain and Tall, which won the 1986 Newbery Medal.
Early life
MacLachlan was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on March 3, 1938. Her father, Philo, was a professor of philosophy of education;[1] her mother, Madonna, was an American English teacher before becoming a homemaker. Her family moved to Rochester, Minnesota, when she was five years old, then relocating to Connecticut after she completed elementary as well as middle school. MacLachlan later studied English at the University of Connecticut, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1962.[2][3]
Career
MacLachlan first worked as an English teacher at Bennett Junior High School in Manchester, Connecticut from 1963 until 1979. She was also employed by a family services agency during this time.[2][3] She then began writing at the age of 35, after her children started attending school.[4] She published her first volume, The Sick Day, in 1979, with her first novel, Arthur, for the Very First Time, being released the following year. Six years later, she was awarded the Newbery Medal for her book Sarah, Plain and Tall.[2] It was adapted as a TV movie by the same name in 1991, starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken, with MacLachlan as one of its screenwriters.[2][5] The two actors subsequently reprised their roles in the sequel Skylark two years later.[2][6] Her novels Journey (1991) and Baby (1993) were also adapted for TV in 1995 and 2000, respectively.[2][7][8]
MacLachlan ultimately authored over 60 children's books throughout her career.[2][3] She collaborated with her daughter, Emily MacLachlan Charest, to create several picture books during the latter part of her career.[9] These included Once I Ate a Pie (2006), Fiona Loves the Night (2007), I Didn't Do It (2010), Cat Talk (2013), and Little Robot Alone (2018).[2] MacLachlan received a National Humanities Medal in 2002.[10] She was a board member of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, a national not-for-profit that actively advocates for literacy, literature, and libraries.[11]
Personal life
MacLachlan married Robert MacLachlan in 1962. They met while she was studying at the University of Connecticut,[3] and remained married until his death in 2015. Together, they had three children: John, Emily, and Jamison.[2][4] She resided in western Massachusetts[12] and kept a small bag of dirt from the prairies to call to mind her Wyoming roots.[2][3]
Patricia MacLachlan died on March 31, 2022, at her home in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. She was 84 years old.[2]
Novels
Sarah, Plain and Tall series, of the Witting family
Sarah, Plain and Tall (April 1985) — winner of the 1986 Newbery Medal[2]
Skylark (March 1994) ISBN 978-0-06-023328-0
Caleb's Story (October 2001) ISBN 978-0-06-023606-9
More Perfect Than the Moon (2004) ISBN 978-0-06-027558-7
Grandfather's Dance (2009) ISBN 978-1-4178-1868-6
Other
Arthur, for the Very First Time (1980) ISBN 978-0-06-024045-5
Through Grandpa's Eyes (March 1980) ISBN 978-0-06-024043-1
Mama One, Mama Two (1982) ISBN 978-0-06-024082-0
Tomorrow's Wizard (1982) ISBN 978-0-06-024074-5
Cassie Binegar (October 1982) ISBN 978-0-06-024034-9
Seven Kisses in a Row (March 1983) ISBN 978-0-06-024084-4
Unclaimed Treasures (July 1987) ISBN 978-0-8124-8529-5
The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt (July 1988) ISBN 978-0-06-024117-9
Journey (September 1991) ISBN 978-0-385-30427-6
Three Names (September 1991) ISBN 978-0-06-443360-0
Baby (October 1993) ISBN 978-0-385-31133-5
All the Places to Love (May 1994) ISBN 978-0-06-021098-4
What You Know First (September 1995) ISBN 978-0-06-024413-2
The Sick Day (April 2001) ISBN 978-0-385-90007-2
Edward's Eyes (August 2007) ISBN 978-1-4391-5664-3
True Gift: A Christmas Story (October 2009) ISBN 978-1-4391-5617-9
Before You Came (2011) ISBN 978-0-06-051234-7
Cat Talk (2013) ISBN 978-0-06-027979-0 (Illustrated by Barry Moser)
Nora's Chicks (2013) ISBN 978-0-7636-4753-7 (Illustrated by Kathryn Brown)
The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse (October 2014) ISBN 978-1-59643-948-1
The Truth of Me (January 2015) ISBN 978-0-06-199861-4
Poets Dog (September 4th 2018) ISBN 978-0-06-229265-0
Wondrous Rex (March 17th 2020) ISBN 978-0-06-294102-2[13]
Waiting for Magic (September 18th 2012) ISBN 978-1-4169-2746-4
White Fur Flying (April 8th 2018) ISBN 978-1-4169-2746-4
Dream Within a Dream (June 23rd 2020) ISBN 978-1-5344-2959-8
My Life Begins (2022)
Snow Horses: A First Night Story (8 Nov 2022) ISBN 1-5344-7355-6 or ISBN 978-1-5344-7355-3
Obituary: Patricia MacLachlan
By Shannon Maughan | Apr 05, 2022
Comments Click Here
© John MacLachlan
Patricia MacLachlan.
Award-winning children’s book author Patricia MacLachlan, widely lauded for her spare, realistic stories about everyday family life, died on March 31 at her home in Williamsburg, Mass. She was 84.
MacLachlan was born March 3, 1938, in Cheyenne, Wyo., the only child of Philo and Madonna Pritzkau, both teachers. When Patricia was five, the family moved to Rochester, Minn., where they stayed until she finished elementary school. In her autobiography from Something About the Author, MacLachlan stated that the prairie landscape of those early years “has always been a powerful source in my life, fueling my mind and my imagination and giving me a sense of belonging to a particular place.” As an adult, she always carried a bag of prairie dirt with her. “It’s important to remember where I began,” she told PW in 2010.
MacLachlan recalled her parents as being “very liberal and very literate. There was no such thing as an ‘unsuitable’ or ‘banned’ book in our household,” she wrote. She became an avid reader, noting, “I measured my life in terms of when I read a particular book.” She also remembered a home filled with music, which she studied via piano and cello lessons.
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As a girl, MacLachlan was fond of inventing characters of all sorts and was especially attached to a free-spirited imaginary friend. But it would still be some time before she felt compelled to commit any of her story ideas to paper.
In the 1950s MacLachlan had moved with her parents to Connecticut where her father was a professor in the English department at the University of Connecticut. MacLachlan earned a B.A. from the university in 1962, the same year she married Robert MacLachlan, a clinical psychologist, whom she had met as a student there. The couple would eventually have three children, John, Jamison, and Emily.
Upon graduating from college, MacLachlan followed in her parents’ footsteps and became an educator. She taught English at Bennett Junior High School in Manchester, Conn., from 1963 to 1979. During that time, MacLachlan also became involved with the Children’s Aid Family Service Agency, where she worked on publicity campaigns and interviewed foster mothers. When MacLachlan’s children got a bit older, she told SATA, “I felt the need to do something else. It dawned on me that what I really wanted to do was write.”
MacLachlan said that turning her attention to writing was “very scary,” but she promised herself she would change course if she didn’t get something published after a few years of trying. She found there were many stories to tell in mining the memories and experiences of her own life. Living in the western Berkshires during this period offered MacLachlan the opportunity to meet a number of other writers, including children’s author and writing instructor Jane Yolen, who introduced MacLachlan to her first literary agent (Craig Virden) and offered advice on where to submit manuscripts. In 1979, Pantheon published MacLachlan’s debut picture book, The Sick Day, about a girl whose father takes care of her when she has a cold. Two more picture books followed, then, MacLachlan—encouraged by her editor at Harper, Charlotte Zolotow—embarked on writing a novel. The result was Arthur, For the Very First Time (Harper & Row, 1980). Following a boy who spends the summer with his great-aunt and great-uncle, that book includes a character—mail-order bride Aunt Mag—who would prove the spark for MacLachlan’s best known and most critically acclaimed work, Sarah, Plain, and Tall (1985), about a woman who answers the newspaper ad of a widower seeking a new wife to help care for his two children.
Sarah, Plain and Tall earned MacLachlan the 1986 Newbery Medal as well as the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction that same year. The book served as a launching pad for four additional books about the central family, and the first three titles were adapted into a trio of movies starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken, with MacLachlan penning the screenplays. Since publication, Sarah, Plain and Tall has sold more than seven million copies.
In all, MacLachlan created more than 60 titles for children, including several picture-book collaborations with her daughter Emily. Among her many accolades, she won the Christopher Award in 1986 and received the National Humanities Medal in 2002 for her contributions to children’s literature.
Author-illustrator Joanna Cotler, former publisher of Joanna Cotler Books at Harper, became MacLachlan’s editor following Charlotte Zolotow’s tenure. “Patty was one of a kind,” Cotler said. “From the moment I met her I was knocked out by her wit, her sharp intelligence, and her laugh-out-loud sense of humor. I had the very great privilege of working with her for 21 years on many of her extraordinary books, and each one was a gift. I feel so lucky to have known and loved her, and we’re all so lucky she leaves us her beautiful books.”
Katherine Tegen, v-p and publisher at Katherine Tegen Books, who took the reins from Cotler when she left the company in 2008, is MacLachlan’s current editor at HarperCollins. “Over the past 13 years, I worked on many books with Patty, and I will miss her salty wit and joyous enthusiasm,” she said. “She had a great respect for young people and a general respect for everyone she met; she was always generous, funny, and self-deprecating. So many people have told me that Sarah, Plain and Tall was an important book in their lives and to everyone who knew Patty, she was a continual source of wisdom and love.”
Neal Porter, v-p and publisher of Neal Porter Books at Holiday House, who published three books with MacLachlan, shared this tribute. “Patty always called me her favorite editor, but I suspect she probably said that to each of us who were fortunate enough to work with her. I think she was a bloody genius, and I don’t know anyone who took such utter pleasure in crafting a sentence. She was also deeply, uproariously funny, on the page and in person, and one sidelong glance from her would reduce me to a puddle. Her Iridescence of Birds, acquired over a glass of chardonnay and a purloined cigarette or two at an SCBWI conference, still gives me goosebumps with each rereading. Like all whose lives she touched, I will miss her desperately.”
Justin Chanda, senior v-p and publisher of Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, worked on 11 books with MacLachlan, including the forthcoming Snow Horses (Nov.). He offered this remembrance: “Patty was a brilliant writer, but what made her a genius was that she could express more in one sentence than most accomplish in a chapter or two. She wrote in an almost secret language that made children feel seen and made adults remember. Every word a gem. Being around her you always felt like you were catching up with your best friend and most wicked co-conspirator.”
And author Jane Yolen recalled her longtime friend and former writing student this way: “PattyMac, as we in the writing group often called her, was more than just a brilliant writer. She was a sort of Dorothy Parker figure—sharp and funny—crossed with an Emily Dickinson wordsmith. ‘I’m no poet, you know,’ she would say to us, when we were talking about a piece she just read to us, her own lines of the picture book putting the lie to such a statement. We watched her struggle with macular degeneration and marveled that even blind, she was writing more than any of us. She always had a new piece, or part of a new book for us to hear. She was finishing revisions on a new novel even as death crept up behind her.
Was she one of a kind? She was three of a kind, I think. I know no one else like her—soft and sharp, witty and snarky, and the most loving mom and grandmother in the world. In fact, the world has been mothered by her. Just read her books and you will know what I mean.”
Also on PW
QUOTED: "quietly joyful and triumphant."
MacLachlan, Patricia PAINTING THE GAME McElderry (Children's None) $16.99 4, 16 ISBN: 9781534499942
This posthumously published final novel from the Newbery-winning author follows a young girl determined to master throwing a knuckleball.
A knuckleball--11-year-old Lucy Chance's father's signature pitch--can dip and weave like magic. "You let it fly," says Lucy's dad, a pitcher for the minor league Salem Red Sox. Writing in her signature spare, impressionistic prose, MacLachlan conjures up a similar magic, surrounding Lucy with a tightknit cast of loving, supportive characters. Lucy's father hopes to move up to the major leagues and encourages her passion for the sport. Her perceptive mother, a painter, draws parallels between Lucy's father's love of baseball and her own artistic talents ("Think of him trying to paint the game. Like me painting a picture"), while Edgar Vazquez, her father's best friend and a catcher for the Sox, is a steady, calming presence. Lucy's best friends and baseball teammates, cousins Robin and Tex, help her secretly practice her knuckleball. Though the novel is light on plot, it nevertheless immerses readers in Lucy's world, capturing characters' seemingly small but deeply meaningful victories: a successful game for Lucy, a beautiful sketch drawn by her mother, words of praise from a major league scout who's observed her father. Everyone wins in this gentle, low-key sports story. Physical descriptions of characters are minimal; Edgar mentions growing up in Puerto Rico.
Quietly joyful and triumphant. (Fiction. 8-13)
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"MacLachlan, Patricia: PAINTING THE GAME." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A791876777/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5865bf4a. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "Lucy's gentle, understated narration and persistence toward her goal keep it grounded in authenticity."
Painting the Game
Patricia MacLachlan. McElderry, $16.99 (144p) ISBN 978-1-53449-994-2
The late Newbery Medalist blends themes of baseball and painting with loving family and friends in this slim work--her final novel--about the daughter of a minor-league pitcher and a painter seeking courage and her own path to pursuing her dreams. Eleven-year-old Lucy's mother explains that Lucy's father is "trying to paint the game. Like me painting a picture. Trying to make the game come out the way he wants." But when Lucy stands on the pitching mound, it's "the scariest place I've ever been." Determined to find the courage to overcome her fear, she secretly practices pitching in pre-dawn hours, choosing to perfect her father's signature knuckleball. In this quiet story, everybody has a secret as well as encouraging partners: for Lucy, it's her friends Tex and Robin, who coach her in private. Affectionate, conflict-free relationships and myriad expressions of support and respect among the compassionate characters nudge the tale toward sentimentality, but Lucy's gentle, understated narration and persistence toward her goal keep it grounded in authenticity. All characters other than a Puerto Rican--born adult present as white. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)
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"Painting the Game." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 3, 22 Jan. 2024, p. 92. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A781418409/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1dbb102d. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "This will appeal to baseball fans and those looking for warm family dynamics."
Painting the Game. By Patricia MacLachlan. Apr. 2024. 144p. Simon Ik Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry, $16.99 (9781534499942). Gr. 3-6.
Eleven-year-old Lucy Chance adores both her parents: Mom, a painter, and Dad, a minor league baseball pitcher. Lucy spends her summer playing for her school's baseball team (the Yard Goats, named for the goats that live next to the diamond) and secretly developing her own pitching skills, particularly the very tricky knuckleball. When Dad is invited to join the Red Sox, Lucy is offered the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at his first major league game, and she wonders if she is up to the challenge. This final middle-grade novel from the late, Newbery-winning author MacLachlan offers her signature lyric language delivered in spare but satisfying prose. Lucy and the other characters (particularly Dad's catcher-partner, Edgar, and his talented dog, Ruby) are well-developed and complex, and information about the psychology behind baseball strategy is deftly woven into the narrative. Although there's not much conflict beyond the well-meant secrets that Lucy and her family keep from one another, this will appeal to baseball fans and those looking for warm family dynamics.--Kay Weisman
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Weisman, Kay. "Painting the Game." Booklist, vol. 120, no. 12, 15 Feb. 2024, pp. 67+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A783436520/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=87af3ee7. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "a quiet, deeply satisfying celebration of the turn of the year and the joy of community."
MacLachlan, Patricia SNOW HORSES McElderry (Children's None) $18.99 11, 8 ISBN: 978-1-5344-7355-3
A young woman harnesses two Percheron horses for a magical sleigh ride on New Year's Eve.
Archer's signature scenes set the mood with snowy fields dotted with groupings of trees; an illustration of one of the trees features graceful limbs encircled with collaged images of music notes. Readers follow sheep and Jenny into the barn at dusk as she leads the strong, black horses to the sleigh, attaches bells to their bridles, and turns on the lights outlining four rows of seats. MacLachlan, deftly crafting her narrative with a minimum of well-chosen words, provides the sensory details. Text is presented in blocks of free verse: "The breaths of Tim and / Tom make silver clouds. / The sleigh makes a / whisper sound in the / snow--a comforting / swish, swish, swish." En route, the vehicle gathers children, some of whom trumpet their excitement from a front porch before hopping aboard. When their turn is over, the elders get a ride, laughing and talking, remembering their own childhood snow play, presented in a sequence of vignettes. Changes in light and perspective maintain interest, as do the patterns of the snowflakes and the starbursts glowing from streetlamps. The warm palette and bold designs of the papers used to depict fabric and floor planks contrast beautifully with the smooth coolness of the wintry landscape. Jenny is brown-skinned; the other characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A quiet, deeply satisfying celebration of the turn of the year and the joy of community. (Picture book. 4-7)
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"MacLachlan, Patricia: SNOW HORSES." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A715352939/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ead017c9. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "a brilliantly colorful, seasonal picture book."
Snow Horses: A First Night Story. By Patricia MacLachlan. Illus. by Micha Archer. Nov. 2022.40p. Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry, $18.99 (9781534473553)--PreS-Gr. 3.
On New Year's Eve, two large, gentle horses named Tim and Tom greet Jenny's arrival with excitement. Leading them out of the barn, their driver puts on their bridles, hitches them to a large, red sleigh, and turns on its twinkling lights. They walk toward town to the sound of jingling bells and take on their passengers. Children, dressed for the cold night, enjoy riding through town, over the bridge, and back home again. Next, the older residents from "the manor" climb aboard to ride, while talking, laughing, and sharing childhood memories. Afterward, Jenny, Tim, and Tom return home. And the next morning, the townsfolk awaken to a sunny day and trumpets proclaiming a "Happy New Year." In the subtitle, "First Night" refers to the custom in certain communities of celebrating New Year's Eve with local cultural events. MacLachlan's lyrical text is a pleasure to read aloud and it works beautifully with the vibrant collage illustrations, created "with handmade papers and inks." Magical in its ability to conjure the brightness of the snow-covered hills, the crisp clarity of cold air, and the upbeat spirit shared by young and old alike, Archer's artwork re-creates classic winter landscapes brightened at night by sparkling lights. A brilliantly colorful, seasonal picture book.--Carolyn Phelan
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Phelan, Carolyn. "Snow Horses: A First Night Story." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 5-6, 1 Nov. 2022, pp. 78+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A727772662/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ba6de588. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "It's a celebratory winter story that many can share."
Snow Horses: A First Night Story
Patricia MacLachlan, illus. by Micha Archer. McElderry, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-5344-7355-3
Evocative artwork and gentle prose from the creators of Prairie Days distinguish this intergenerational tale about a community that celebrates the last night of the year with sleigh rides for young and old. Tim and Tom, the black Percheron horses who pull the sleigh, "love winter./They love the snow." Young Jenny, a child portrayed with brown skin, hitches them up, then takes the reins as "sleigh bells sing." Archer shows a bird's-eye view of the sleigh crossing a snowy field, a final splash of sunset splendor across the horizon behind them. The community's children and adults, portrayed with varied skin tones, appear amid lacy ink and paper-collage landscapes rich with patterns and warm hues. First, the children ride through the sparkling town before bed; then, "grandmothers,/grandfathers,/ aunts and uncles,/ and longtime friends" take a turn, remembering their own youths. Text by the late MacLachlan captures incidents others might miss ("A little golden dog comes out to run alongside/ the horses--a beacon in the dark"), and the rhythm of the lines lulls while conveying pleasure and excitement. It's a celebratory winter story that many can share. Ages 4-8.
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"Snow Horses: A First Night Story." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 49, 23 Nov. 2022, p. 36. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A728493777/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9ea778d7. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
My Life Begins!
by Patricia MacLachlan; illus. by Daniel Miyares
Primary Tegen/HarperCollins 128 pp. g
8/22 978-0-06-311601-6 $16.99
e-book ed. 978-0-06-311602-3 $10.99
This quiet chapter book is pure MacLachlan: lots of warmth and family love; a sensitive protagonist adapting to change; and spare, evocative prose that cuts to the heart of matters. Nine-year-old Jacob would rather have a puppy, but he has to make do with newborn triplets. His first impression of his sisters isn't positive, as he records in his notebook: "They're not pretty. They look like birds without feathers. Puppies are cuter." When he needs a topic to research for a school assignment, "A Litter of Trips--from Birth On" is the obvious choice. In the beginning, the three babies seem the same ("They cry and eat, wet their diapers, and sleep"), but over time Jacob becomes aware of individual differences. As the "Trips" change, Jacob realizes that he's changing, too, and growing into his role as an older brother. His perceptive, sometimes funny notebook musings are interspersed throughout the story and set apart from the main narrative, giving independent readers a chance to pause. Miyares's lighthearted black-and-white illustrations, which match the text's gentle tone, serve the same purpose. MacLachlan keeps the first-person narrative tightly focused on Jacob and his life at home with the babies (with a few scenes in school and at the doctor's office); well-realized secondary characters add depth to the narrative.
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Flynn, Kitty. "My Life Begins!" The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 98, no. 5, Sept.-Oct. 2022, p. 90. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A719029170/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ec3e3466. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "precious."
MacLachlan, Patricia MY LIFE BEGINS! Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (Children's None) $16.99 8, 2 ISBN: 978-0-06-311601-6
New babies mean a big change for an older brother.
Jacob is 9 years old when he and his parents welcome some new additions to their family--triplets! Jacob calls them the "Trips," although they of course each have their own name, and Mom dresses each in a different color to make it easier to tell them apart. Jacob wishes the family could have gotten a puppy instead. But one night, when his parents are too exhausted to wake up, one of the babies starts crying, and Jacob tends to her. It's Liz, the "most friendly" Trip. In the moonlight, she even smiles just for him--though he knows it might just be a reflex. So when Jacob's class is tasked with finding a topic for a research project, he chooses the Trips. As time passes, and the family hires an extra set of hands to help with the little ones, the Trips show more of their individual personalities. MacLachlan's calm, measured writing focuses on moments of everyday magic and charm, and Jacob's observational notes read almost like poetry. This family is loving and oh-so pleasant, often becoming emotional at the simple but significant beauty of the babies' growth milestones. Mimi, the hired nanny, is French, but there are no textual indicators of race; the occasional illustrations show most characters as light-skinned.
Precious. (Fiction. 5-9)
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"MacLachlan, Patricia: MY LIFE BEGINS!" Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A713722830/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=78d64356. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "slender, resonant novel."
My Life Begins!
Patricia MacLachlan, illus. by Daniel Miyares. HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99 (128p) ISBN 978-0-06-311601-6
An only child until the age of nine, Jacob Black views his solitary baby picture on the living room wall as "lonely" and wishes for a litter of puppies, like his friend Bella has. Instead, he gets a "litter of Trips," as he affectionately calls his new baby sisters, triplets Charlotte, Katherine, and Elizabeth. Late Newbery Medalist MacLachlan's slender, resonant novel traces Jacob's adjustment to life as an older brother in his own calm and reasonable, often questioning, voice as well as in his documentation of the Trips' growth (unnaturally swift-they crawl and drink juice out of sippy cups within months) for a school research project. MacLachlan's understated language is effective and evocative, the characters consistently thoughtful and kind. The conflict-free story takes measured steps through Jacob's small inner discoveries, his formation of a new identity as older sibling, and his growing relationships with each of his sisters. Miyares's (Big and Small and In-Between) inky, sketchlike b&w art enhances the book's tender tone. Characters present as racially ambiguous. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. (Aug.)
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"My Life Begins!" Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 26, 20 June 2022, pp. 142+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A710383411/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fd11975e. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "will empower kids to realize they, too, can be poets."
MacLachlan, Patricia MY POET Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (Children's None) $17.99 9, 6 ISBN: 978-0-06-297114-2
Poets find words everywhere.
Lucy, a young child, and an older neighbor whom Lucy calls "my poet" look for words as they walk together on the first day of summer vacation. Lucy notes that the poet--inspired by poet Mary Oliver--uses rich language to describe objects, and Lucy wonders where the poet's words and ideas come from. Lucy ponders and closely observes the poet. Narrated by Lucy in first person, this quiet, gentle tale suggests that evocative language emerges when one opens oneself to commonplace visual, auditory, and tactile experiences all around. Doing so invites rich streams of wonderful words--hence, poetry. Lucy demonstrates an understanding of this principle while waxing poetic at the sight of a web-spinning spider. The poet acknowledges that she appreciates Lucy's effort. "You're finding your words," she tells the child. As "proof," the book concludes with a lovely poem from Lucy. The late MacLachlan's sweet, quiet story will work best for contemplative readers. Children enjoy toying with language, and this book validates their playful enjoyment of and experiments with wordplay. A fun follow-up to a classroom or library read-aloud could include having children describe familiar objects in imaginative, poetic ways. The simple, endearing gouache illustrations ably suit the narrative. The protagonists are light-skinned; other characters are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Will empower kids to realize they, too, can be poets. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-8)
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"MacLachlan, Patricia: MY POET." Kirkus Reviews, 1 July 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A708487013/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8f4a4179. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "uplifting for anyone who has engaged in creative process."
My Poet
Patricia MacLachlan, illus. by Jen Hill.
HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06297-114-2
In this dreamy introduction to the art and craft of writing, late Newbery Medalist MacLachlan follows fair-haired child Lucy and her summertime neighbor, a gray-haired older woman--"my poet"--through a seaside town and environs as Lucy, her own notebook and pen in tow, tries to discover how the poet finds her words. "Does the sand whisper to her?" Lucy wonders as they navigate the beach with the poet's dogs. "Do the roses sing words?" The twosome's gentle relationship--their pale coloring and clothing echo each other--is tendeely rendered in Hill's (Be Strong) muted gouache illustrations, as are the atmospheric landscapes: windswept beaches with fenced-in dunes and wild rugosa rose bushes, woods bordering marshes, and modest cottages. Lucy's quiet joy in learning to find her own words, encouraged by the poet, is uplifting for anyone who has engaged in creative process. This inviting book reads as an ode to Oliver, the Cape, and new undertakings. An author's note explains that the text is inspired by the late poet Mary Oliver, with whom she sometimes crossed paths on Cape Cod. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. Illustrator's agent: Anne Moore Armstrong, Bright Agency. (Sept.)
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"My Poet." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 28, 4 July 2022, p. 73. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A711576666/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f855a044. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "a sweet paean to inspiration and contemplation."
My Poet. By Patricia MacLachlan. Illus. by Jen Hill. Sept. 2022. 32p. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen, $17.99 (9780062971142). PreS-Gr. 2.
A love of words, walks, and a watery natural landscape highlight an intergenerational friendship in this posthumously published picture book from Newbery winner MacLachlan. One half of the duo is Lucy, a young girl with a white-blonde bob. The other half, referred to as "my poet," is the beloved wordsmith Mary Oliver, whose white hair is also bobbed. Both appreciate exploring Cape Cod; enjoying the sea, woods, and market; and finding the just-right words to describe what they see--a strawberry, for instance, is a jewel. "The words are here," my poet tells Lucy. "You just have to find them." Hill's blowsy, light-washed pictures capture the areas magic, full of weathered fences, pink rugosa roses, shell-strewn beaches, and gray-shingled cottages. The poet's dogs--one white, one black--cavort through the spreads, leading readers onward as Lucy discovers her own words and, inspired by the poet, ends the story with a poem. A sweet paean to inspiration and contemplation, with an afterword by MacLachlan explaining how she knew the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Oliver.--Karen Cruze
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Cruze, Karen. "My Poet." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 2, 15 Sept. 2022, p. 59. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A720255890/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ba2be03d. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
Patricia MacLachlan died March 31, 2022, in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. She was eighty-four. She was the author of more than sixty books for children, including the acclaimed and bestselling Sarah, Plain and Tall, which was awarded both the 1986 Newbery Medal and the Scott O'Dell Award. A versatile writer, she wrote in a variety of genres, including picture books (such as The Iridescence of Birds), beginning readers (such as Barkus), and middle-grade fiction (such as her first novel, Arthur, for the Very First Time).
British author and illustrator David McKee died April 6, 2022, in the South of France. He was eighty-seven. Best known as the creator of the Elmer the Patchwork Elephant picture books, which have been translated into more than sixty languages, he also wrote the subversive classic Not Now, Bernard and illustrated several Paddington Bear books.
Author Patricia A. McKillip died May 6, 2022. She was seventy-four. She was best known for her sweeping fantasy novels, including The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (winner of the 1975 World Fantasy Award) and the Riddle-Master trilogy. Sn 2008 she received a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
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"Obituaries." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 98, no. 4, July-Aug. 2022, p. 149. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A711168193/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fb4a5c2b. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
Byline: Emily Langer
Patricia MacLachlan, an award-winning writer known to millions of young readers as the author of "Sarah, Plain and Tall," a novel about two motherless farm children and the gentle woman who comes to the prairie to make them whole, died March 31 at her home in Williamsburg, Mass. She was 84.
Her son John MacLachlan confirmed her death but did not cite a cause.
MacLachlan wrote more than 60 children's books during her half-century career, which she began in her mid-30s after her own children started school, leaving her time in the day to collect her memories and observations and turn them into stories.
She deplored children's books of the moralizing kind, those sledgehammers of literature wielded by grown-ups determined to pound ideas into young minds.
"Among some writers there's this ghastly notion that one has to teach children lessons," she once told the Orange County Register. "That's condescending and incorrect. It's not what writing is about. You write to find out what you're thinking about, to find out how you feel."
MacLachlan's thoughts often ran toward family and place, the two elements at the core of her most famous book, "Sarah, Plain and Tall." The volume received the Newbery Medal, the highest award in children's literature, and has sold more than 7 million copies since it first appeared in 1985, according to the publishing house HarperCollins.
Set at the turn of the 20th century, the book tells the story of a farmer who lost the mother of his two children in childbirth years ago and places a newspaper advertisement for a new wife. The children, Anna and Caleb Witting, correspond by letter with their would-be new mother, Sarah Wheaton, who leaves her home on the rugged coast of Maine to join them on the windswept prairie and braid Anna's hair, bake bread and sing.
"I will come by train," Sarah writes. "I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall."
The canon of children's literature has long reserved a prominent place for the prairie, which was most famously evoked by Laura Ingalls Wilder in her celebrated series about the "little house" that was home to her pioneer family. MacLachlan, who spent the early years of her childhood on the prairie of Wyoming, was credited with making a proud installment in that tradition.
"The 58-page book, accessible to early readers, perfect for reading aloud, poignant and affecting even to jaded teenagers and weary adults, is, as a New York Times reviewer [observed], 'the simplest of love stories expressed in the simplest of prose,' " Eden Ross Lipson, the Times's children's book editor, wrote when "Sarah, Plain and Tall" received the Newbery Medal in 1986.
MacLachlan said the book was inspired by a story her mother had told her about a "wonderful woman who came into the family" as a mail-order bride.
"Can you imagine how very brave and courageous she must have been?" the author remarked to an interviewer. "What if she didn't like the children? What if she didn't like the man? What if they didn't like her?"
"Sarah, Plain and Tall" was adapted into a widely viewed 1991 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie starring Glenn Close as Sarah and Christopher Walken as Jacob Witting, the father of Anna and Caleb. MacLachlan co-wrote the script.
She wrote several sequels to the book, including "Skylark" (1994), "Caleb's Story" (2001), "More Perfect Than the Moon" (2004) and "Grandfather's Dance" (2006). Walken and Close reprised their roles in a Hallmark Hall of Fame version of "Skylark."
Several other novels by MacLachlan were adapted for TV, among them "Journey" (1991), about a boy whose mother abandons him to be raised by his grandparents, and "Baby" (1993), about a foundling and the wounded family that takes her in.
Many of MacLachlan's works contained autobiographical elements. In her novel "Cassie Binegar" (1982), the protagonist often listens to adult conversations while hiding on the floor underneath a tablecloth. MacLachlan had done the same as a girl. When her mother read the manuscript of the novel, she sent MacLachlan the floral fabric that had covered their family's dining room.
"I never knew my mother knew," MacLachlan said.
Patricia Marie Pritzkau, an only child, was born in Cheyenne, Wyo., on March 3, 1938. Her father was a philosophy professor, and her mother was a homemaker who had been an English teacher.
"My professor father made sure I never forgot about the connection of books and life," MacLachlan wrote in a reflection published in The Washington Post in 2004. "Every single day we acted out books and stories. I remember Peter Rabbit most vividly. My father would play a fierce Mr. McGregor, 'scritch scratching' in the garden of the living room, and I'd play a frightened Peter Rabbit, running into the safety of the coat closet. Even today, when I open a coat closet, I get goose bumps on my arms, remembering how it was to be zipped into the fur of Peter Rabbit."
Her mother, she recalled, devotedly accompanied her on jaunts to the library and set places at the dinner table for MacLachlan's imaginary friends.
Once, a teacher, unimpressed by a story that the young MacLachlan had composed, declared that she would never be a writer. The insult stung but was outweighed in its impact by the love of her parents and their unceasing efforts to cultivate her imagination.
"Children read with a certain belief and vision about finding themselves in literature," MacLachlan said when she received a 2002 National Humanities Medal, explaining the mind-set that she brought to her writing. "Literature changes their lives. They have a sense of closeness with literature that speaks for them."
MacLachlan was in elementary school when her family relocated to Minnesota. They later moved east when her father became an administrator at the University of Connecticut, where MacLachlan received a bachelor's degree in English in 1962.
She married that year and worked for a family services agency before beginning her writing career. Her first volume, "The Sick Day," was a picture book published in 1979.
MacLachlan's first novel was "Arthur, for the Very First Time" (1980), about a boy and the summer he spends on a farm with his amusingly odd aunt and uncle. Her 1988 novel, "The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt," centered on a young girl and her longing for the attention of her writer mother.
MacLachlan wrote several books with her daughter, Emily MacLachlan Charest, including "Once I Ate a Pie" (2006), "Fiona Loves the Night" (2007), "I Didn't Do It" (2010), "Cat Talk" (2013) and "Little Robot Alone" (2018).
MacLachlan's husband of 53 years, Robert MacLachlan, died in 2015. Besides her son, of Williamsburg, survivors include her daughter, of Stow, Mass.; another son, Jamison MacLachlan of Plymouth, Mass.; and six grandchildren.
Such was MacLachlan's connection to the Wyoming of her youth - and to the world of "Sarah, Plain and Tall" - that throughout her life, she kept a souvenir of the prairie.
"I carry a small bag of prairie dirt to remind me of where I began - the prairie that I miss and still dream about," she said in an interview published on the website Two Writing Teachers. "It is sort of like a charm from my childhood. I had a wonderful childhood with wonderful parents who were storytellers and educators. They loved and respected children. So, my little bag of prairie reminds me of them, too."
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Langer, Emily. "Patricia MacLachlan, author of 'Sarah, Plain and Tall,' dies at 84." Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A699430880/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=bafef1e9. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.
A best-selling children's book writer, she focused on family life and its difficulties, earning acclaim for her gentle, sparse prose.
Patricia MacLachlan, the celebrated author of children's books, including the best-selling ''Sarah, Plain and Tall,'' about a young woman who moves to a pioneer homestead to join a widower and his children, died on March 31 at her home in Williamsburg, Mass. She was 84.
The death was confirmed by her son John MacLachlan, who declined to specify the cause.
Praised for its interiority and sparse, gentle prose, ''Sarah, Plain and Tall'' sold millions of copies and earned a Newbery Medal, the premier honor for children's literature.
Set in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the book centers on the story of Jacob Witting, a farmer on the Wyoming prairie trying to raise his children after his wife has died in childbirth. A woman named Sarah Wheaton answers a newspaper ad to become his new wife and the mother to the family, and travels from her home in Maine to join them.
In a 1986 article about the author in The New York Times Book Review, Eden Ross Lipson called ''Sarah, Plain and Tall'' ''accessible to early readers, perfect for reading aloud, poignant and affecting even to jaded teenagers and weary adults.'' It was adapted into a 1991 television movie starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken.
Ms. MacLachlan told The Times that the book had been inspired by an event in her own family history. The story was to be a gift to her mother, she said, ''who had met the real Sarah and who would shortly lose her memory of the past entirely'' -- a fate that to Ms. MacLachlan seemed ''far worse than losing the present.''
Ms. MacLachlan's career continued to flourish. She wrote four other installments in what became a ''Sarah, Plain and Tall'' series and dozens of other picture and chapter books.
Three more of her books will be published this year, her publisher, HarperCollins, announced.
Ms. MacLachlan's work often focused on families and never shied away from difficult topics. ''My Father's Words,'' published in 2018, followed siblings volunteering at an animal shelter in the wake of their father's death.
''Though the premise might seem way too sad -- or even a bit too obvious -- MacLachlan turns it into something remarkable,'' Catherine Hong wrote in The Times Book Review.
Ms. MacLachlan often said in interviews that she wrote with great respect for children's abilities as readers and writers. And her writing style, accessible yet free of pandering, attracted many fans.
''I love their letters,'' she told Publisher's Weekly in 2010. ''I saved one from a child, on my refrigerator, and it says, 'Thank you for writing this book, it was the second greatest book I've ever read.' I love that. And I always wonder what was the first greatest book this child ever read.''
In 2002, Ms. MacLachlan won the National Humanities Medal for her work.
Patricia Marie Pritzkau was born March 3, 1938, in Cheyenne, Wyo. Her father, Philo Pritzkau, a native of North Dakota who had taught in Wyoming, was an education professor. Her mother, Madonna (Moss) Pritzkau, was an English teacher and homemaker.
The family moved to Minnesota and later to Storrs, Conn., where her father taught at the University of Connecticut and where Patricia attended high school.
As an only child, she told The Times in the 1986 article, ''looking back, I see that I write books about brothers and sisters, about what makes up a family, what works and what is nurturing.''
She earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Connecticut in 1962. She married Robert MacLachlan Jr., a psychologist, the same year. They were together until his death in 2015.
In her later career, Ms. MacLachlan wrote several picture books with her daughter, Emily MacLachlan Charest.
In addition to her son John, Ms. MacLachlan is survived by her daughter; another son, Jamison; and six grandchildren.
CAPTION(S):
PHOTOS: Patricia MacLachlan, whose 1985 children's book won a Newbery Medal, often focused on families. (PHOTOGRAPH BY RANDOM HOUSE, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 The New York Times Company
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Williams, Annabelle. "Patricia MacLachlan, 84, Revered Writer Of the Poignant 'Sarah, Plain and Tall'." New York Times, 12 Apr. 2022, p. B11(L). Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A700135957/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f47b6510. Accessed 14 Sept. 2024.