MacLachlan, Patricia 1938-

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MacLACHLAN, Patricia 1938-

PERSONAL: Born March 3, 1938, in Cheyenne, WY; daughter of Philo (a teacher) and Madonna (a teacher; maiden name, Moss) Pritzkau; married Robert MacLachlan (a clinical psychologist), April 14, 1962; children: John, Jamie, Emily. Education: University of Connecticut, B.A., 1962.

ADDRESSES: Home—Williamsburg, MA. Office—Department of Education, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063. Agent—c/o Author Mail, HarperCollins, 10 East 53rd St., New York, NY 10022.

CAREER: Writer and educator. Bennett Junior High School, Manchester, CT, English teacher, 1963-79; Smith College, Northampton, MA, visiting lecturer, 1986—; writer. Lecturer; social worker; teacher of creative writing workshops for adults and children. Children's Aid Family Service Agency, board member, 1970-80.

AWARDS, HONORS: Golden Kite Award, Society of Children's Book Writers 1980, for Arthur, for the Very First Time; Notable Book Citation, American Library Association, 1980, for Arthur, for the Very First Time, 1984, for Unclaimed Treasures, 1984, for Sarah, Plain and Tall, and 1988, for The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt; Notable Children's Trade Book, National Council for Social Studies and the 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 citation, 1984, for Unclaimed Treasures, and 1985, for Sarah, Plain and Tall; Golden Kite Award, Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award, one of School Library Journal's Best Books of the Year, and one of the New York Times Notable Children's Books of the Year, all 1985, Newbery Medal, American Library Association, Jefferson Cup Award, Virginia Library Association, Christopher Award, and one of Child Study Association of America's Children's Books of the Year, all 1986, 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 nominee, both 1988, all for Sarah, Plain and Tall; Parents' Choice Award, Parents' Choice Foundation, 1988, and Horn Book Fanfare citation, 1989, for The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt.

WRITINGS:

for children

The Sick Day (picture book), illustrated by William Pene Du Bois, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1979.

Arthur, for the Very First Time (novel), illustrated by Lloyd Bloom, Harper (New York, NY), 1980.

Moon, Stars, Frogs, and Friends, illustrated by Tomie de Paola, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1980.

Through Grandpa's Eyes (picture book), illustrated by Deborah Ray, Harper (New York, NY), 1980.

Cassie Binegar (novel), Harper (New York, NY), 1982.

Mama One, Mama Two (picture book), illustrated by Ruth Lercher Bornstein, Harper (New York, NY), 1982.

Tomorrow's Wizard, illustrated by Kathy Jacobi, Harper (New York, NY), 1982.

Seven Kisses in a Row (picture book), illustrated by Maria Pia Marrella, Harper (New York, NY), 1983.

Unclaimed Treasures (novel), Harper (New York, NY), 1984.

Sarah, Plain and Tall (novel), Harper (New York, NY), 1985.

The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt (novel), Harper (New York, NY), 1988.

Journey, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 1991.

Three Names, illustrated by Alexander Pertzoff, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991.

Baby, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 1993.

All the Places to Love, paintings by Mike Wimmer, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994.

Skylark, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994.

What You Know First, engravings by Barry Moser, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995.

Caleb's Story, Joanna Cotler Books (New York, NY), 2001.

(With daughter, Emily MacLachlan) Painting the Wind, illustrated by Katy Schneider, Joanna Cotler Books, (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Emily MacLachlan) Bittle, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino, Joanna Cotler Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Author of Skylark (teleplay), CBS-TV, 1993; author of teleplay for Sarah, Plain and Tall broadcast as a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, starring Glenn Close, 1991. Short fiction has appeared in anthologies such as Newbery Award Library II, edited by Joseph Krumgold, Harper (New York, NY), 1988.

ADAPTATIONS: 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, and as a television film starring Glenn Close; Mama One, Mama Two, Through Grandpa's Eyes, and The Sick Day were adapted as an audiocassette, Caedmon, 1987; Sarah, Plain and Tall was adapted as a musical by Julia Jordan, Nell Benjamin, and Laurence O'Keefe. The play opened at the Lucille Lortel Theater in Manhattan and is directed by Joe Calarco.

SIDELIGHTS: Patricia MacLachlan is known for her award-winning picture books and novels for children, which include The Sick Day; Arthur, for the Very First Time; Sarah, Plain and Tall; and The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt. Populated by eccentric, endearing characters and often focusing on family relationships, MacLachlan's works are considered to be tender, humorous, and perceptive. Though she usually concentrates on the realities of everyday life in her books, MacLachlan has also penned more fanciful tales such as Tomorrow's Wizard and Moon, Stars, Frogs, and Friends. Reviewers generally praise MacLachlan's work, indicating that her graceful, lucid prose is particularly suitable for reading aloud and that her warm, optimistic stories both enlighten and entertain young readers. "MacLachlan is the critically acclaimed author of the kind of children's stories so compelling that readers clasp the book to their chest and sigh when the last page is turned," wrote Catherine Keefe in the Orange County Register.

Born in Wyoming and reared in Minnesota, MacLachlan was an only child. Her lack of siblings was offset by a strong relationship with her parents and an active imagination. MacLachlan's parents were teachers and encouraged her to read; her mother urged her to "read a book and find out who you are," the author related in Horn Book. She did read voraciously, sometimes discussing and acting out scenes in books with her parents. She wrote 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."

MacLachlan was also kept company by her imaginary friend, Mary, "who was real enough for me to insist that my parents set a place for her at the table," the author recalled in Horn Book. "Mary was a free spirit. She talked me into drawing a snail on the living room wall, larger and larger, so that the room had to be repainted.… My parents tolerated Mary with good humor, though I'm sure it was trying. Mary was ever present. 'Don't sit there,' I'd cry with alarm. 'Mary's there!' One of my early memories is of my father, negotiating with Mary for the couch after dinner."

Though she was creative enough to invent a friend and concoct elaborate fantasies, MacLachlan did not write stories as a child. The author remembers being intimidated by the intensely personal nature of writing. In an autobiographical essay in Authors and Adults for Young Adults, she confessed: "I was afraid of putting my own feelings and thoughts on a page for everyone to read. This is still a scary part of writing." She also noted in Horn Book that she believed "writers had all the answers." She continued, remembering a school assignment: "I wrote a story on a three by five card. I still have it: 'My cats have names and seem happy. Often they play. The end.' My teacher was not impressed. I was discouraged, and I wrote in my diary: 'I shall try not to be a writer.'"

Indeed, MacLachlan did not begin to write until years later, at the age of thirty-five. Married with children of her own, she kept busy by working with foster mothers at a family services agency and spending time with her family. As her children grew older, though, she "felt a need to do something else—go to graduate school or go back to teaching, perhaps," she once noted. "It dawned on me that what I really wanted to do was to write. How would I ever have the courage, I wondered. It was very scary to find myself in the role of student again, trying to learn something entirely new."

MacLachlan started her successful writing career by creating picture books. Her first, The Sick Day, details how a little girl with a cold is cared for by her father. Another work, Through Grandpa's Eyes, explores how a young boy is taught by his blind grandfather to "see" the world through his other senses. Mama One, Mama Two, a somewhat later book, takes a frank yet comforting look at mental illness and foster parenting. In it a girl is taken in by "Mama Two" while waiting for her natural mother, "Mama One," to recover from psychological problems. MacLachlan, praised for the simplicity and sensitivity she brings to these stories, is especially noted for her deft handling of unconventional subject matter.

Encouraged by her editor, MacLachlan also started to write novels, which are intended for a slightly older audience than her picture books. She once commented on the differences between the two genres: "It is more difficult to write a picture book than a novel. A good picture book is much like a poem: concise, rich, bare-boned, and multileveled.… When I want to stretch into greater self-indulgence, I write a novel." MacLachlan's first novel, Arthur, for the Very First Time, tells of a young boy's emotional growth during the summer he spends with his great-uncle and great-aunt. Reviews of the work were laudatory; critics particularly praised MacLachlan's realistic characters and her sincere yet entertaining look at childhood problems.

A character in Arthur, for the Very First Time provided the seed for MacLachlan's best-known work, Sarah, Plain and Tall. Aunt Mag in Arthur was a mail-order bride (a woman who meets her husband by answering a newspaper advertisement) as was a distant relative of MacLachlan's. In Sarah, Plain and Tall the title character answers a newspaper advertisement and as a result goes to visit a lonely widower and his children on a midwestern prairie. When Sarah arrives, the children take to her immediately and hope she'll stay and marry their father. Considered a poignant and finely wrought tale, Sarah, Plain and Tall garnered widespread critical acclaim; MacLachlan received a Newbery Medal for the novel in 1986. Margery Fisher, a Growing Point contributor, deemed the book a "small masterpiece."

Skylark, which first appeared in 1994, is the sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall, and invites inevitable comparison to the original, wrote Mary M. Burns in HornBook. Skylark, however, "does not suffer in such a pairing [with the original], for it has its own center and momentum," Burns concluded. A terrible drought has overwhelmed Sarah and Jacob Witting's farm. The crops wither and die, drinking water is scarce, neighbors leave for better conditions elsewhere, and the barn is burned in a freak rainless lightning strike. "Sarah is increasingly on edge, not so firmly rooted as her husband, Jacob," wrote a Publishers Weekly critic. "She cries out that Jacob 'once said his name was written in this land, but mine isn't. It isn't!'" To alleviate their problems, Sarah, along with children Anna and Caleb, go to visit her aunts in coastal Maine, where water is plentiful and life is easier than on a hardscrabble farm in the plains. The only connection Sarah and the children have with the farm is letters from Jacob, until one day he appears in Maine to collect his family. Rain has come to the farm, and Sarah is expecting a new baby. With renewed hope, the family returns to the farm, where Sarah symbolically writes her own name in the land. "Skylark is one sequel that is as successful as the original," Burns wrote. "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.

In Caleb's Story, young Caleb from Sarah, Plain and Tall and Skylark narrates the continuing story of the Witting family. Anna has moved to town to attend school and work for the area doctor, while the newest arrival to the family, Cassie, grows up on the farm. One day, Jacob's father, who had abandoned his farm and his family and who Jacob thought was dead, returns, creating a difficult conflict between Jacob and his father. Jacob struggles with his bitter anger toward his father. Clues emerge, however, that Jacob's father is illiterate, which may have contributed to his past actions. Caleb takes on the task of teaching his grandfather to read, and Sarah urges Jacob to find the courage to forgive. In the book, "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. A Kirkus Reviews critic remarked that "MacLachlan's appreciative readers will savor this new addition to the chronicle of a delightful family" while hoping for more volumes in the evergrowing series. In a Publishers Weekly review, critic Jason Britton noted that MacLachlan undertook Caleb's Story in response to a phone call from a worried little boy who was concerned that she might not continue writing after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. "And I thought, 'By God, I owe it to him,'" MacLachlan is quoted as saying. "It is that characteristic spark that fans of MacLachlan and her writing—and specifically, of the collection of books that began with Sarah, Plan and Tall—have come to expect," Britton remarked.

Echoing the unwilling separation from home found in Skylark, MacLachlan's 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 a tangible reminder with her: a bag of prairie dirt, and cuttings from a beloved cottonwood tree. The book "touches the heart," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer. MacLachlan is a real-life example of the character in the story: she also carries a bag of prairie dirt with her wherever she goes, to remind her of where she came from. "It is the prairie dirt—clutched in a plastic sandwich bag, dusty and twiggy and brown, toted everywhere that MacLachlan goes—that speaks volumes about the connection between her own life and her work," Keefe observed.

MacLachlan has also undertaken collaborations with her daughter, Emily. In Painting the Wind, a young painter finds inspiration from the dozens of other painters who migrate to his island and work at their easels every summer. At summer's end, an exhibition from all the artists lets the narrator find new ways to look at his work and appreciate the work of others. Painting the Wind "bears insights into how artists look at their world, and their work, and will broaden children's understanding of how and why art is made," a Kirkus Reviews critic remarked.

The entire body of MacLachlan's work has been consistently well-regarded by reviewers as well as readers. MacLachlan's "simple, compassionate stories, including Sarah, Plain and Tall and the Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, portray a cast of individualistic children on the brink of adolescence," wrote a critic in Authors and Artists for Young Adults. "And it is the graceful, lyrical style of MacLachlan's writing that makes these characters so real and so full of life as they experience the entire range of emotions associated with growing up."

As with the mail-order bride in Sarah, Plain and Tall, MacLachlan often gleans elements of her stories from personal experience. As she once explained, "My books derive chiefly from my family life, both as a child with my own parents as well as with my husband and kids. The Sick Day … could happen in almost any family. Mama One, Mama Two comes from my experiences with foster mothers and the children they cared for." MacLachlan also noted in Horn Book that "the issues of a book are the same issues of life each day. What is real and what is not? How do you look at the world? How do I?" Sometimes the influence of the author's life on her work is unconscious; scenes from her childhood appear on her pages, episodes that she thought she had invented but that had actually happened. Once, she described an unusual tablecloth in one of her books, thinking she had made up the cloth's design; she later discovered that her mother had used a virtually identical tablecloth when MacLachlan was a child. Referring to such a instance in the Junior Literary Guild Catalog, MacLachlan commented, "I realized that this is the magic. When you write you reach back somewhere in your mind or your heart and pull out things that you never even knew were there."

MacLachlan is heartened by children's reactions to her work; she once noted that "it's hugely gratifying to know that kids all over read what I write." Affirming the importance of encouraging young writers, the author visits schools to speak with students and give 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."

"I think the children often think they don't have very exciting lives that are worth writing about," MacLachlan commented on the Random House Web site. "I just tell them that that's what we write about—we make them more interesting by writing about them. We change our lives in our books in a way, and that's the most exciting thing about writing about your own life. Kids get very excited when they hear that because they can change their own lives in their stories."

When asked what advice she would have for beginning writers, MacLachlan commented in Language Arts, "I would certainly say only write books for children if you really love children's books and want to do it. Writing for children is special because I think children read with a great true belief in what they're reading. The other thing is to read. One must understand the far reaches of children's books because they're really about many of the same subjects as adults are concerned with. Don't be condescending. I hate the didacticism that sometimes comes through in children's books. I would read and read and read. There is no better model than a good book."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 18, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1996.

Children's Literature Review, Volume 14, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1988, pp. 177-186.

Russell, David L., Patricia MacLachlan, Twayne (New York, NY), 1997.

Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1995.

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, p. 1254, 1256; August, 1991, p. 2157; March 15, 1992, review of Journey, p. 1364; May 1, 1992, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 1612; September 1, 1993, review of Baby, p. 51; January 1, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 827; March 15, 1994, review of Baby, p. 1355; March 15, 1994, review of Baby, p. 1358; May 15, 1994, Nancy McCray, review of Baby, p. 1701; June 1, 1994, Stephanie Zvirin, review of All the Places to Love, p. 1810; June 1, 1997, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 1701; March 1, 1999, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 1212; February 15, 2001, review of The Sick Day, p. 1141; September 1, 2001, review of Caleb's Story, p. 107; December 15, 2001, review of The Sick Day, p. 728.

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.

Books for Your Children, autumn, 1994, review of Baby, p. 21.

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.

Changing Men, winter, 1994, review of Through Grandpa's Eyes, p. 40.

Childhood Education, summer, 1992, review of Three Names, p. 245.

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 Book Watch, January, 1992, review of Three Names, p. 2; March, 1994, review of Baby, p. 3; March, 1994, review of Baby (audio version), p. 6; July, 1995, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall (audio version), p. 4; November, 1995, review of What You Know First, p. 8; May, 2001, review of The Sick Day, p. 7.

Children's Literature, March, 1995, review of Unclaimed Treasures, p. 202.

Children's Literature Association Quarterly, spring, 1993, review of Arthur, for the Very First Time, p. 23; spring, 1994, review of The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, p. 23; spring, 1993, review of Unclaimed Treasures, p. 23; spring, 1993, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 23; spring, 1993, review of Journey, p. 23.

Christian Science Monitor, November 5, 1993, review of Baby, p. 10; May 6, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 12.

Day Care & Early Education, summer, 1995, review of All the Places to Love, p. 42.

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.

Entertainment Weekly, April 8, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 69.

Five Owls, November, 1993, review of Sarah, Plan 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; January-February, 1986, pp. 19-26; July-August, 1986, "Newbery Medal Acceptance," 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, "Dialogue between Charlotte Zolotow and Patricia MacLachlan," pp. 736-745; September, 1991, p. 592; July, 1994, p. 453; 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.

Horn Book Guide, spring, 1992, review of Three Names, p. 60; spring, 1992, review of Journey, p. 69; spring, 1994, review of Baby, p. 80; fall, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 282; fall, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 313; spring, 1996, review of What You Know First, p. 15; fall, 2001, review of The Sick Day, p. 266; spring, 2002, review of Caleb's Story, p. 75.

Hungry Mind Review, summer, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 55.

Instructor, January, 1993, review of Through Grandpa's Eyes, p. 51; October, 1993, review of Journey, p. 68.

Journal of Adult Reading, March, 1994, review of Baby, p. 519.

Journal of Reading, March, 1992, review of Journey, p. 501; November, 1992, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 174.

Junior Bookshelf, April, 1992, review of Journey, p. 75.

Junior Literary Guild Catalog, September, 1980.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 1991, p. 1091; 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.

Kliatt Young Adult Paperback Book Guide, March, 1994, review of Journey, p. 54; March, 1994, review of Baby, p. 54.

Language Arts, November, 1985, Ann Courtney, interview with Patricia MacLachlan, pp. 783-787; March, 1992, review of Three Names, p. 218; November, 1992, review of Journey, p. 516; November, 1992, review of Journey, p. 541; October, 1994, review of Baby, p. 460; February, 1995, review of Skylark, p. 142; October, 1995, review of All the Places to Love, p. 435; April, 1996, review of What You Know First, p. 263; September, 1996, review of All the Places to Love, p. 352.

Learning, October, 1995, review of Journey, p. 83.

Library Talk, January, 1992, review of Journey, p. 33; September, 1992, review of Three Names, p. 46; May, 1994, review of Baby, p. 44; September, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 42; September, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 11.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, December 17, 1995, review of What You Know First, p. 15.

Magpies, July, 1993, review of Journey, p. 39.

Newsweek, December 28, 1992, review of Through Grandpa's Eyes, p. 54.

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; June 29, 1986, p. 31; 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; November 16, 1996, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, p. 26; January 20, 2002, review of Caleb's Story, p. 15.

Orange County Register, September 21, 1994, Catherine Keefe, "Patricia MacLachlan Remains Connected with Her Childhood" (interview).

Parents, December, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 24.

Plays, March, 1997, review of Tomorrow's Wizard, p. 64.

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; July 25, 1991, p. 53; April 16, 1993, review of Baby, p. 104; August 16, 1993, Diane Roback and Elizabeth Devereaux, 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; July 31, 1995, review of What You Know First, p. 79; 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; March 23, 1998, review of What You Know First, p. 102; 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.

Quill & Quire, November, 1993, review of Baby, p. 40; February, 1996, review of What You Know First, p. 43.

Reading Teacher, December, 1992, review of Three Names, p. 333; May, 1993, review of Journey, p. 692; September, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 71; November, 1994, review of Baby, p. 241; March, 1995, review of All the Places to Love, p. 510; November, 1995, review of All the Places to Love, p. 238; October, 1996, review of What You Know First, p. 153; April, 2002, review of Caleb's Story, p. 697.

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. 93-93; July, 1991, p. 60; 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, 2002, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall (audio version), p. 71; May, 2002, review of Caleb's Story, (audio version), p. 71; May, 2002, review of Skylark (audio version), p. 71.

Smithsonian, November, 1994, review of All the Places to Love, p. 34.

Social Education, April, 1992, review of Journey, p. 262; April, 1995, review of All the Places to Love, p. 217.

Social Studies, March, 1995, review of Through Grandpa's Eyes, p. 92.

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.

Times Literary Supplement, November 28, 1986, p. 1344.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), November 14, 1993, review of Baby, p. 7; April 10, 1994, review of Allthe Places to Love, p. 8; March 13, 1994, review of Skylark, p. 7; January 14, 1996, review of What You Know First, p. 7; October 21, 2001, review of Caleb's Story, p. 4.

Variety, July 29, 2002, Marilyn Stasio, review of Sarah, Plain and Tall (musical production), p. 30.

Voice of Youth Advocates, October, 1993, p. 216.

Wilson Library Bulletin, May, 1992, review of Journey, p. S5; January, 1994, review of Baby, p. 119.