In meditative prose, Newbery-winner MacLachlan commemorates the life of a great barn. MacLachlan and Pak invite readers into the rhythms of the small family farm and important moments, small and great, over a century of its life.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“This quiet tale captures the rhythm of rural life throughout seasons—and then over generations. MacLachlan weaves in an abundance of details that will appeal to children with no firsthand experience with farming. A cozy filter through which to imagine growing up.” — Kirkus Reviews
“MacLachlan pays tribute to a symbol of the American farm. Watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink, and digital media in browns, tans, and cinnamon, enable the red of the cap and the barn to stand out. The solid building at the heart of the farm offers comfort and continuity in the life of a family.” — Booklist
“MacLachlan’s gift for portraying bucolic bliss returns. Fox, possum, cat, dog, and mouse each meander into the story with winsome expressions, adding to the serene mood. VERDICT This story’s poetry and pace are mellow, ideal for a quiet time.” — School Library Journal
Praise for CHICKEN TALK: “Krosoczka’s expressive illustrations bring humor and tenderness to each character, human and chicken. MacLachlan’s latest models an attentive, loving, and respectful relationship between humans and their animal companions that even those without articulate pets will appreciate. A sweet, silly...celebration of individuality and connection.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Artwork by Krosoczka (Hey, Kiddo) uses softly sketched lines and gentle farmyard hues to provide a sense of the farm’s peace and the chickens’ cleverness. MacLachlan (My Father’s Words) offers droll dialogue, a bucolic setting, and a spirited defense of animals as distinct beings with unacknowledged powers of observation.” — Publishers Weekly
Praise for MY FATHER’S WORDS: “Newbery-medalist MacLachlan is known for writing heart-tugging stories in spare style, as she did in Sarah, Plain and Tall (1985). And that’s what she does here as readers meet Fiona and Finn. Deeply moving and uplifting in unexpected ways.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)
“Key relationships in her own life inspired this characteristically taut and resonant novel by Newbery Medalist MacLachlan. MacLachlan masterfully mingles core themes in this slim volume: the power of words and song, memories and family, the mutually redemptive human-canine bond, and ‘the eternal fitness of things.’” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“With her customary precise, spare language, infused with emotional intelligence, MacLachlan takes readers from shocked grief to a way to live again, fundamental truths dropped carefully and delicately for young readers to comprehend in their own time. A flawless story about resilience, hope, healing, and the eternal fitness of things.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Praise for THE POET’S DOG: “Magical. A quiet, elegant, poignant story suffused with humor, heart, and goodness.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A spare, moving tale. Using simple words that even youngest readers will understand and enjoy, MacLachlan tackles subjects such as death and mourning with understated grace.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Readers will find their own jewel in this gem of a book.” — Booklist (starred review)
Praise for THE TRUTH OF ME: “Brief but emotionally intense...MacLachlan demonstrates her mastery of elegantly unfolding a tale and gently plucking at readers’ heartstrings without taking a maudlin tone.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Praise for KINDRED SOULS: “MacLachlan handles a familiar theme with grace, providing a lens into an uncanny intergenerational bond, as well as the kindness and generosity of love.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
09/01/2019
K-Gr 2—MacLachlan's gift for portraying bucolic bliss returns in this account of a 1919 barn raising and the narrator's experiences with the building as years pass. When Jack is five, his community gathers for the framing, building, raising, and painting of what his father dubs the Hundred-Year Barn. Meanwhile, youngsters play in a stream, chow down at celebration feasts, and share scary story at sleepovers in the barn. The narrator ages, assuming tasks of responsibility for the structure and its residents. Sweeping the barn as an adult, Jack discovers a fallen nest containing the wedding ring his father lost during the barn build. Pak applies gouache, pencil, ink, and digital media for folksy illustrations that offer warm gold overtones, and complement the narrator's ever-red cap. Fox, possum, cat, dog, and mouse each meander into the story with winsome expressions, adding to the serene mood. VERDICT This story's poetry and pace are mellow, ideal for a quiet time.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
2019-05-22
Known for animating America's past for young readers, MacLachlan here imagines a community barn-raising from a century ago.
The setting is simply "a meadow," leaving room for Pak's atmospheric mixed-media and digital compositions to fill in physical and emotional elements. Burnt sienna is the predominant color of the landscape; it surrounds the minimalist figures like a textured veil, emphasizing their ties to the Earth. The narrator, 5 years old at the start, is identified by a red cap and dark hair. He holds the ladder while wooden frames are bolted to beams, plays with neighbors in the stream, and enjoys the celebratory picnic and the photograph that records the gathering. Characters have various skin tones—whether from ethnicity or sun, it is hard to say—but the protagonist and his family present white. This quiet tale captures the rhythm of rural life throughout seasons—and then over generations—with the solid structure at the center of daily chores, fond interactions with animals, sleepovers with cousins, and weddings. The moments of highest drama involve a wedding ring lost by the protagonist's father during construction and recovered in a barn owl's nest when the son has become the farmer. MacLachlan weaves in an abundance of details that will appeal to children with no firsthand experience with farming: "Once, a lamb named Baby pushed me over and licked my face with his little tongue."
A cozy filter through which to imagine growing up. (Picture book. 4-7)
