Description

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"I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall."

A heartwarming story about two children, Anna and Caleb, whose lives are changed forever when their widowed papa advertises for a mail-order bride. Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton from Maine answers the ad and agrees to come for a month. Sarah brings gifts from the sea, a cat named Seal, and singing and laughter to the quiet house. But will she like it enough to stay? Anna and Caleb wait and wonder -- and hope.

Performed by Glenn Close

"Did Mama sing every day?" Caleb asks his sister Anna. "Every-single-day," she answers. "Papa too."

Winner, 1986 Newbery Medal
1986 Christopher Award
1986 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction for Children
1986 Golden Kite Award for Fiction (SCBW)
Notable Children's Book of 1985 (ALA)
1985 Children's Editors' Choices (BL)
Best Books of 1985 (SLJ)
Children's Choices for 1986 (IRA/CBC)
Outstanding Children's Books of 1985 (N.Y. Times Book Review)
International Board of Books for Young People Honor List for Writing, 1988
1986 Notable Trade Book in the Language Arts (NCTE)
1986 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
1985 Books for Children (Library of Congress)
1988 Garden State Children's Book Award (New Jersey)
1988 Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (Arkansas)
100 Favorite Paperbacks 1989 (IRA/CBC)
Best of the 80's (BL)
1986 Christopher Award
1986 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction for Children
1986 Golden Kite Award for Fiction (SCBW)
Notable Children's Books of 1985 (ALA)
1985 Children's Editors' Choices (BL)
Best Books of 1985 (SLJ)
Children's Choices for 1986 (IRA/CBC)
Outstanding Children's Books of 1985 (NYTBR)
1986 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
1985 Children's Books (Library of Congress)
1988 Garden State Children's Book Award (New Jersey Library Association)
1988 Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (Arkansas)
100 Favorite Paperbacks of 1989 (IRA/CBC)
Best of the '80s (BL)
1986 Notable Children's Trade Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)
1988 Choices (Association of Booksellers for Children)
1988 International Borad of Books for Young People Honor List for Writing
1986 Jefferson Cup Award (Virginia Library Association)

About the Author

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Patricia MacLachlan (1938-2022) was the celebrated author of many timeless books for young readers, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal. She was also the author of many beloved picture books, a number of which she cowrote with her daughter, Emily.

Glenn Close starred in the Emmy-nominated Hallmark Hall of Fame version of Sarah, Plain and Tall. An Academy Award nominee, Ms. Close has distinguished herself in such critically acclaimed films as The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction, and Dangerous Liaisons.