More Perfect than the Moon

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5–Another heartwarming installment in the saga of the Witting family, first made famous in Sarah, Plain and Tall (HarperCollins, 1985). In this fourth book, Anna is working with Dr. Sam in town and is engaged to Justin, and Caleb is busy on the farm, so it is the youngest member of the family's turn to keep a journal. Cassie, almost in third grade, is a watcher, a listener, and a writer. While Caleb scoffs at her stories as not being true, Cassie defends her imaginative entries as "my truth." When Sarah announces that she is going to have a baby, Cassie is angry, and worried that her mother won't have enough love left over for her. She is determined not to like the "terrible baby." As her loving family helps her come to terms with the inevitable birth, the journal entries provide a way for Cassie to blend "her truth" with the facts. In true MacLachlan fashion, the spare, graceful writing sparkles with fresh images, and the first-person point of view rests firmly with the child. While the pace is restrained, the exciting climax provides enough dramatic tension to keep readers' attention. A worthy companion to the earlier books.–Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From AudioFile
The author of SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL addresses new baby jealousy in her trademark forthright, yet sensitive, manner when Cassie refuses to acknowledge that her beloved step-mother, Sarah, is pregnant. Mingled with the story of Cassie learning to share are the sights and sounds of nineteenth-century farm life, making for a full-hearted rural tale. MacLachlan's writing has a sincere sweetness that Glenn Close's narration emphasizes. An adult may find the result slightly cloying, but it captivates young lis-teners. It's gentle and exquisitely articulated, and the pacing is superb, pausing at the right emotional moments, speeding up when Cassie is flustered. Very nicely done. A.C.S. 2005 ALA Notable Recording © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Gr. 3-5. This fourth title in the Sarah Plain and Tall (1985) series highlights Cassie, Sarah and Jacob's eight-year-old daughter. Caleb has transferred journal-writing duties to her, and she tries to record what she observes, despite a tendency to write what she wishes might happen. Sarah and Jacob are expecting another baby, and Cassie is perturbed at the prospect. She is quite certain her new sibling won't be the "gift" her mother has promised. Wisely, Sarah allows her daughter to work through these feelings (at one point Cassie announces that the baby will be born a sheep--named Beatrice), and, by the time her new brother arrives, Cassie is able to concede that this "terrible baby" might be even more perfect than the moon. As always, MacLachlan's lyrical prose conveys volumes in a few well-chosen words. Solid, believable characters face classic dilemmas, yet the ending feels neither pat nor predictable. A fine, literate choice for beginning chapter-book readers, especially those already familiar with this series. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
The beloved story of
Sarah, Plain and Tall continues Cassie is an observer, a writer, a storyteller. And for her, life is as it should be. But change is inevitable, even on the prairie. Something new is expected, and Sarah says it will be the perfect gift. Cassie isn't so sure. But just like life changes, people change too, and Cassie learns that unexpected surprises can bring great joy. more perfect than the moon invites us back to the Witting family farm, first visited in the Newbery Medal–winning sarah, plain and tall. With her lyrical prose Patricia MacLachlan writes about a family’s boundless capacity for love.


About the Author
Patricia MacLachlan was born on the prairie, and to this day carries a small bag of prairie dirt with her wherever she goes to remind her of what she knew first. She is the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb's Story; and Three Names, illustrated by Mike Wimmer. She lives in western Massachusetts. In Her Own Words... "One thing I've learned with age and parenting is that life comes in circles. Recently, I was having a bad time writing. I felt disconnected. I had moved to a new home and didn't feel grounded. The house, the land was unfamiliar to me. There was no garden yet. Why had I sold my old comfortable 1793 home? The one with the snakes in the basement, mice everywhere, no closets. I would miss the cold winter air that came in through the electrical sockets. "I had to go this day to talk to a fourth-grade class, and I banged around the house, complaining. Hard to believe, since I am so mild mannered and pleasant, isn't it? What did I have to say to them? I thought what I always think when I enter a room of children. What do I know? "I plunged down the hillside and into town, where a group of fourth-grade children waited for me in the library, freshly scrubbed, expectant. Should I be surprised that what usually happens did so? We began to talk about place, our living landscapes. And I showed them my little bag of prairie dirt from where I was born. Quite simply, we never got off the subject of place. Should I have been so surprised that these young children were so concerned with place, or with the lack of it, their displacement? Five children were foster children, disconnected from their homes. One little boy's house had burned down, everything gone. "Photographs, too," he said sadly. Another told me that he was moving the next day to place he'd never been. I turned and saw the librarian, tears coming down her face. "'You know,' I said. "Maybe I should take this bag of prairie dirt and toss it into my new yard. I'll never live on the prairie again. I live here now. The two places could mix together that way!" "No!" cried a boy from the back. "Maybe the prairie dirt will blow away!" And then a little girl raised her hand. "I think you should put that prairie dirt in a glass bowl in your window so that when you write you can see it all the time. So you can always see what you knew first." "When I left the library, I went home to write. What You Know First owes much to the children of the Jackson Street School: the ones who love place and will never leave it, the ones who lost everything and have to begin again. I hope for them life comes in circles, too."


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Cassie, an almost-third-grader, has taken up the journal passed on by her much older brother Caleb. She is fascinated by words and uses the journal not only to record what is happening in her family, but in her vivid imagination as well. MacLachlan reintroduces the family of Sarah, Plain and Tall, Skylark, and Caleb's Story. Cassie is the much-loved daughter of Sarah and Jacob, and now there is to be a new addition to the family. Cassie writes about that "terrible baby" and vows never to like it. Of course, when her baby brother is born she accepts him as a gift "more perfect than the moon." The tale is charming and Cassie is a delightful narrator. Readers who have not encountered the characters in the previous works might not fully understand the family's dynamics, but they can certainly identify with her feelings about the new baby. If the power and deeply felt emotions of the original are missing, it remains a pleasant visit with old friends. (Fiction. 8-10)


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