Patricia MacLachlan
AUTHOR

Patricia MacLachlan

Children's Audiobooks | Biographies & Memoirs
Tap the gear icon above to manage new release emails.
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."
Read more Read less
You're getting a free audiobook


You're getting a free audiobook.

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Try for $0.00

The Boxcar Children Beginning

Most popular
View Details

Best Sellers

Product List
  • The Boxcar Children Beginning Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $11.69 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $11.69 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • The True Gift Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $7.49 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $7.49 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Skylark Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Caleb's Story Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $10.79 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $10.79 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • More Perfect than the Moon Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Sarah, Plain and Tall Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Barkus Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $7.73 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $7.73 or 1 credit

    Included in Plus membership
    Try for $0.00
  • Edward's Eyes Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $8.24 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $8.24 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Wondrous Rex Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $8.99 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $8.99 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • The Poet's Dog Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Barkus Dog Dreams Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $6.87 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $6.87 or 1 credit

    Included in Plus membership
    Try for $0.00
  • My Life Begins! Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $10.79 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $10.79 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Word After Word After Word Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $8.09 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Painting the Game Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $7.49 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $7.49 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • My Father's Words Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $12.59 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $12.59 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Dream Within a Dream Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $24.43 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $24.43 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • A Secret Shared Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $13.49 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $13.49 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • Prairie Days Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $6.87 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $6.87 or 1 credit

    Included in Plus membership
    Try for $0.00
  • Barkus Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $7.73 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $7.73 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
  • The Poet's Dog Audiobook By Patricia MacLachlan cover art

    Regular price: $5.53 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $5.53 or 1 credit

    Try for $0.00
Discover beloved stories from popular children’s authors

Discover beloved stories from
popular children’s authors

Explore

Are you an author?

Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.
Visit Amazon Author Central