This short book (only 87 pages) is the perfect sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall. Sarah, once a mail-order bride from Maine, now is almost integrated into family life on the harsh prairie. But prolonged drought and other natural conditions deteriorate to the extent that she takes her instant children, Anna and Caleb, on a nostalgic (for her at least) trip back East, to share her roots with them.

This story is narrated in the first person by Anna, daughter of farmer Jacob. But how to blend love of the ocean with love for the prairie--two opposing causes for nostalgia and homesickness? Sarah needs to learn to stop being a lark who merely hovers above the land, She must let her husband's love for her help her to grow into the kind of person who can write her name on the land as well. A thoughtful read for more mature readers. Companion volumes to complete the mail-order marriage. Read as a pair!

This book is one of my favourite books.Even the first chapter was interesting.Some parts really touch my heart.They make me feel that I am over there feeling their pain and sorrow.This story is the sequel to "Sarah,Plain and Tall".The drought had wiped out every drop of water on the prairie.Sarah had married Caleb's father,Jacob.Their neighbours were slowly leaving the prairie.Caleb didn't want to leave Sarah and the prairie.He wanted rain to fall.When I read this part,I was so worried that I wished that I could read it the whole day.When Caleb's papa said that they have their names written in the prairie,Caleb didn't want Sarah to leave so he really wrote "SARA" in the land.But in the end,they still had to leave the prairie and went to stay with Sarah's aunts in Maine for a while until it rained in the prairie.In Maine,it was totally different.There were the sea and flowers blooming.Do you think the children will ever see the prairie and their father again? Read this moving story and find out.

This wonderful book about relying on your senses when you are blind demonstrates that blind people can lead a productive life. Grandpa shares his zest for life with his grandson, John. At first John does not understand how his grandpa is able to do all that he does. Grandpa shares his secret. As a preservice teacher I've used this book to talk about aging and its effects with my students. We also talk about what we can do to help others who have disabilities. This is an excellent book to allow children to examine their thoughts on older people and disabilities.

This is a very nicely written story about a boy and his grandfather, who is blind. It portrays a close, loving relationship between the two, and explains in a very simple and positive way how the grandfather perceives the world without his visual sense. The accompanying drawings are simple and artistic. It is so difficult to find realistic, beautiful books for children, but this one is absolutely wonderful. I give it my highest recommendation.

I love this book for the way the illustrations and story compliment each other so well. The story narrated by a small child facing the prospect of moving to a new home is achingly beautiful. You can feel the child's pain and anxiety about moving to a new place and being afraid of forgetting the old place and the memories therein. The child tells about all the things she will miss and then devises a plan to stay and not go with her family and baby brother. It is a story for anyone who has ever had to face a painful change in his or her life. I could read it again and again.

For any of you who have left home..what you knew first..this book will deeply touch you. As I read this in the bookstore, tears came to my eyes. It's a story of a little girl who struggles to understand why she and her family must leave the only place they know. Though change has its sadness,this book shows the sweetness of memories you take with you forever. This is a good book for a child going through such a change or for an adult who still recalls all those familiar things of home.

If you are looking for a book filled with heart warming and touching adventure _Sarah, Plain and Tall_ is the book for you! This book is about a widowed man, and his two lonesome children. Jacob, lost his wife when Caleb (his son), was born. The mother used to sing beautiful, country, melodies to Anna when she was just a small infant. Jacob, Mama, and, Anna at dusk used to sing on the porch before Caleb was born. Now, Papa dosn't sing anymore, and he is looking for a wife and a mother. He put a ad in a local paper, and he recieved a response from a lady in Maine named Sarah. Later, she came to visit, the whole entire famly loved her. She brought seashells and gave some of them to Anna and Calab. Calab loved how he could "hear the ocean" in the shells. Soon, Papa began to sing again, and fell in love with Sarah. Jacob finally had a new loving wife and caring mother for his children.

MacLachlan's book takes us back to a time when a man could put an ad in the newspaper and order himself a bride.

Papa, a farmer in the western plains, has been widowed since the birth of his second child, Caleb. He advertises for a wife and gets Sarah, plain and tall (and smart and fun). She agrees to stay and take care of Papa, Caleb, and Anna, although she misses the Maine coast where she grew up.

The plot, like life on a 19th century farm, moves slowly and simply along. I was suprised and touched to learn how eager the children were to make Sarah happy and comfortable in her new life.

The story was very short and easy to read, and would be of interest to children in elementary school.

As I began to read Patricia McLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall Iwas instantly thrust into a time machine that took me back to asimpler time and place. A time of farms and wagons pulled byhorses. A time where there were no such things as computers, the Internet or any of the other distractions that we have today. This is how the Witting family lives their lives. Jacob is the father, Anna the older sister and Caleb, the youngest child. Anna and Caleb's mother died the day after she had Caleb and their father hasn't been the same since. Jacob puts an ad in the paper to find a wife and gets a response from Sarah from Maine. This book is a history lesson in disguise. I realize that all historical fiction is has an underlying history lesson, but this book in and its characters are very convincing. The lessons that the reader will learn are valuable and well taught. Sarah Plain and Tall takes place in 1910 and anyone who reads this book will learn about how people lived their life during this time. The book has many pieces of historical information. For example, it talks about how Sarah was wore very plain clothes, made by herself. It talked about how they had to use a plow pulled by a donkey to turn the fields. In one scene, a devastating storm blows through, and the Wittings must go into the barn to keep safe, but they also have to keep the animals safe. This depicts what a large role farm animals played in the livelihood of families during the early 1900's. The book also talks of how the children had to do real chores around the farm to keep it running smoothly. For example, they have to get up and help milk the cows, feed the animals and sometimes house maintenance. All of these are accurate depictions of life on a farm. Jan Susina's article, "American Girls Collection: Barbies with a Sense of History", argues that this series of books uses a nine-year-old girl to teach other girls about American history. Sarah, Plain and Tall is done in the same style of the books in the American Girl's Collection. It gives children a lesson in history, but it is hidden among an interesting story with adventure, drama and comedy. I think that this fact adds to the value of both of the books. If authors can make books that interest children and teach them something about their history, then they are truly effective authors. I think the audience intended for this book needs to be a little more mature than most of the other books we've looked at this semester. This book allows the children to use their imagination. They can imagine what Sarah looks like, how plain she really is. They can see the plows and the farm animals. Being able to see things in their head is a valuable skill for a child to have. I think that this book definitely gives children a glimpse into the past, like stepping onto a time machine. It definitely had more mature subject matter such as death of a parent, finding a new mate for the father figure and children's feelings of abandonment. Whatever the case, Sarah, Plain and Tall is a story for the ages which will be read for years to come.

This book is the worst book i have ever read. It doesn't make any sense, and very hard to understand. I reccomend this book to no one.

This story was written for young readers, but is an incredible story suitable for all ages.

The story is about the life of a young boy named Journey, whose mother left him to live with his grandparents and sister on a rural farm. Journey is faced with the question: why did she leave? He spends the summer searching for answers in photographs from the past and discovering his own family relationships and past through them as well.

I enjoy photography and found that this book gave me an appreciation for the view from behind the camera. It's a touching story of growth, discovery, and the love that binds families together. A great read for all ages, "Journey" is a worthwhile and intriguing novel.

Journey comes from a disfunctional family.His mum left him and his older sister,Cat with his grandparents.His father left when he was not even born.Journey misses his mum and longs for her to come back.I feel pity for him as his parents dumped him when he was a boy.When I read this book,I was so angry with his mother that I could have beaten her up in real life.His grandfather takes many photos of them and the surroundings.So,when they are grownup,they can have something to remind themselves about the past.Journey's mum tore up all their photos of the past.What an irresponsible mum! I wish I could pound her to pieces like what she did to the photos.I must consider myself the most luckiest girl in the whole world.

I'm not impressed with this book.

Sarah Plain and Tall is a near perfect novel in it's simplicity and depth but it is evident that MacLachlan spent neither the time nor the care to develop this story. I felt jipped with the cliches and predictable unfolding. This is definitely not her best writing.

Plus, the way the father Jacob is portrayed (an angry unforgiving man) takes away from his character in the first book .. shy, strong, deep and wise.

This book is a classic example of an author monopolizing on something good (Sarah Plain and Tall) knowing her fans will buy it. In the book "Caleb's Story" MacLachlan leaves herself plenty of loopholes so we know there will be more books.

I'm disappointed and kinda disgusted.

Caleb's Story picks up where Skylark and Sarah, Plain and Tall leave off. For the countless readers who fell in love with Sarah as she learned to be a mother to Anna and Caleb, and a helpmeet for Jacob, this book is a wonderful addition. For the reader who lacks "Sarah background," Sarah comes from Maine to a prairie farm after responding to an ad placed by Jacob, who is looking for a woman to replace his recently deceased wife. While he is not necessarily looking for romance, Sarah and Jacob ultimately fall in love, and their next years as a family is chronicled in the sequel, Skylark.

In Caleb's Story, Anna leaves for town to help with victims of the influenza epidemic of 1918. A stranger is discovered in the barn, which turns out to be Jacob's estranged father, John. John wishes reconciliation with Jacob, who stubbornly continues to deny him the forgiveness he desires.

Journaling is a major theme in this book, making it a perfect companion to teaching the importance of recording events and feelings. Caleb picks up journaling for the family, a job which Anna had done until her departure. In trying to encourage Grandpa John to learn about the family he knew little of, Caleb offers the journals to him. Ultimately, in an extremely touching scene, Caleb presents Grandpa John his own journal, whereupon he learns that John never learned how to write.

What a touching story this is! A perfect read-aloud for the classroom (if the teacher can harden the heart enough not to cry!), students do not need to have a lot of background of the previous parts of the story. This reviewer found the characters believable; their reactions that John's arrival caused the family were extremely believable. MacLachlan's ability to convey emotions in an easy-to-understand way for intermediate readers makes this the perfect addition to any school or family library.

As a third grade teacher, I am always on the lookout for good literature for student reading or teacher read alouds. My class and I read together the first two books in this trilogy and I used Caleb's Story as a read aloud which I shared with my principal. We loved this poignant story from its opening pages to its final pages. The old characters come to life once again while the surprising introduction of some new characters give great insight into family life. Everyone could relate to one or more of the characters, they are realistic. Lessons on cause and effect, character traits and goals, predicting, and problem solving were ongoing. Class discussions were wonderful as this tale presents much to talk about. The fact that this book is told in a different voice from the first two, is an interesting change. Caleb, who didn't want to take his sister's place as the family historian, eventually continues the saga in his own journal. My class is writing to the author requesting that she continue the stories using Jacob and the new characters to tie some pieces together. Many of my students are reading it again. It is a beautiful chapter book and appropriate to read when studying the early prairie years of our country.

I like the Ellery Queen novels, but the killer is almost always a little too obvious. I nailed the culprits immediately in this one. It was kind of irritating having to finish the 95% of the book that was left already knowing who it was. Queen just tipped his hat way too early in this novel. Its still a very good novel and worth a read if your a fan of Ellery Queen's books.

This is a classic mystery story that keeps you puzzled until the end unless you're very, very clever. As clever as the detective story writer Ellery Queen and his Inspector father. It's a murder, of course, the murder of Glory Guild, that begins the great drama. The cast? Glory's five times married, lady killer husband, Count Armando; her soon to be a star niece Lorette; Roberta, who used to love Armando but now claims to love Harry; Harry, the Scotch inspector who won't go home; Ellery and his father; and the myterious figure in the violet veil. When Glory is shot, she leaves a clue: the scrawl F A C E. This sets of a train of events that end- I won't spoil it by telling you how. But if you like a good, classic puzzler, this is for you.

This is a cute book. When Emma's parents go out of town to an "Eye Ball meeting" their aunt and uncle come to stay with them. While there the kids ( Emma and Zach ) teach their uncle and aunt how to be good parents. The story is cute and the characters are believable. There are lots of words on the pages. The ending is endearing. I think kids between 7-9 might enjoy this book. .