Description: asin B004ZJYKLWupc 046594004956SKYLARK By MacLachlan, PatriciaPatricia MacLachlanPatricia 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."
Price: 1.39 USD
Location: Eaton, Colorado
End Time: 2025-01-19T17:19:04.000Z
Shipping Cost: 5.13 USD
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Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Book Title: Skylark
Custom Bundle: No
Item Length: 7.7in.
Original Language: English
Vintage: Yes
Personalize: No
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Item Height: 0.4in.
Personalized: No
Topic: Family / General (See Also Headings under Social Themes), Family / Blended Families, Lifestyles / Farm & Ranch Life, General, Social Themes / Friendship
Item Width: 5.4in.
Signed: No
Ex Libris: Yes
Narrative Type: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins
Intended Audience: Ages 9-12, Young Adults, Adults
Inscribed: No
Publication Year: 1994
Era: 1990s
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Country/Region of Manufacture: America
Item Weight: 3.2 Oz
Number of Pages: 128 Pages
