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Summary
Summary
From Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan comes a reassuring story about new beginnings and making friends.
Nora and her family have just arrived from Russia and are making a new home on the American frontier. The prairie is very different from the forested hills Nora is used to. Most of all, it's lonely. Papa has the cows he sings to as he milks them. Baby brother Milo has a dog to follow him wherever he goes. But Nora has no one and nothing to call her own until Papa brings home a dozen chicks and two geese. Nora names each one, and they follow her everywhere -- even to church! But what will happen when one of her beloved chicks goes missing?
Author Notes
Patricia MacLachlan was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming on March 3, 1938. She received a B.A. from the University of Connecticut in 1962 and taught English at a junior high school until 1979. She began writing picture books and novels at the age of thirty-five. Her works include The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, Skylark, Caleb's Story, Grandfather's Dance, Three Names, All the Places to Love, Before You Came, Cat Talk, and Snowflakes Fall. She won the Golden Kite Award for Arthur, for the Very First Time and the 1986 Newbery Medal for Sarah, Plain and Tall.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-After emigrating from Russia to the American plains, Nora misses the familiar landscape of her home and is lonely. When she and her younger brother adopt a stray dog, the dog prefers Milo. Similarly, the cows and horses really belong to her father. When the family acquires some chicks and geese, Nora adopts them as her own, and her father promises not to make dinner of them. The chicks follow her everywhere. After one chick is lost and returned by a girl from the neighboring farm, Nora makes a friend. Through bare-bones prose, MacLachlan visits the same territory of prairie loneliness portrayed in her work for older readers, but with less lyricism. While realistic in its portrayal of the impact of a move, the narrative's slow pacing and limited drama will appeal mainly to patient readers. The sweet expressions and flyaway hair in Brown's watercolors add charm, but the muted palette and basic landscapes surrounding the figures do little to attract readers to MacLachlan's similarly muted narrative. Despite its overall mildness, this longer picture book fills a need for early elementary historical fiction.-Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, Farmington Hills, MI (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Newbery Medalist MacLachlan (Sarah, Plain and Tall) revisits the prairie in this tender story of a family that emigrates from Russia to the American frontier. Though Nora's parents are aware of their daughter's sense of isolation on her new turf, they can provide little solace. A stray dog becomes devoted to Nora's baby brother, and her father has his horses and cows for company. "I need something all my own," laments Nora; her father inadvertently provides that very thing when he brings home 10 chicks and two geese "for eating." Nora decides they are too beautiful to eat, and he agrees, conceding, "They are yours." With her usual taut and penetrating style, MacLachlan reveals the reawakening of Nora's spirit as she bonds with her chicks, which also bring her closer to a neighboring girl. Brightened by the festive patterns of Nora's Old World fashions, Brown's (Kisses on the Wind) smudgy, windswept watercolors capture the starkness and beauty of the prairie and the simplicity of the life there. This is a lovely, affecting package. Ages 3-5. Agent: Ruben Pfeffer, East West Literary Agency. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Young Nora, newly transplanted to the American prairie, misses her native Russia. She longs for a friend but is too shy to make one until one of her beloved chicks is found and returned to her by a neighbor girl. The simply told story is adorned with open, soft, evocative watercolor illustrations that nicely capture setting, character, and mood. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
This low-key slice of life, apparently adapted from the author's grandmother's experiences as an immigrant child, offers a glimpse of another time and reminds young listeners that friends, whether feathered or human, are among life's sweetest gifts. Nora, her baby brother, Milo, and her parents have come to the United States from Russia. The prairie landscape is bleak and unfamiliar, Milo is still too small to speak, and Nora is lonely. A neighbor, not near but closer than anyone else, has potential as a friend, but like Nora, is too shy to connect. Nora welcomes a stray dog who joins their little family, but Willie bonds with Milo, so she is still alone. Then her father brings home some poultry, intending the birds for their table, and Nora finds "something all [her] own" at last. That her feathered friends lead her to a new companion will please young listeners, who'll appreciate the happy ending (which is really a new beginning). MacLachlan's relatively lengthy, leisurely, straightforward text is realistic without bogging down in details as the action moves along. Brown's watercolor illustrations are the perfect complement, bringing characters to life, mirroring the plot, portraying the rural setting clearly (if a bit ideally) and evoking a simpler time. Like her novels, MacLachlan's latest picture book is a heartwarming--but never saccharine--tale with an old-fashioned feel. (Picture book. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Nora, her parents, and her little brother, Milo, move from Russia to a farm on the American prairie, but she misses her old home and longs for a friend. Even when the family adopts a stray dog, the one he takes a shine to is Milo. After her father gives her 10 little chicks to care for, the growing birds become her responsibility and, ultimately, just the icebreaker that shy Nora needs to befriend Susannah, who lives on a nearby farm. Set in the past, the quiet story portrays Nora's emotions with finesse. Brown's beguiling illustrations sensitive drawings with watercolor washes bring the characters and the rural setting to life in evocative scenes, with the focus sometimes on the landscape, sometimes on the characters. Written mainly in short words and sentences, this sometimes amusing, sometimes tender picture book is a good choice for reading aloud while also being accessible to many independent readers.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
