Sarah Plain and Tall is a story about a family in search of a mother. Caleb and Anna miss their mother. She died the day after giving birth to Caleb. One day, their father decides to put an advertisement in the paper for a wife. Sarah responds with a letter. The family writes letter back and forth to Sarah until she decides to come meet and get to know the family for a month. Anna and Caleb are excited to meet Sarah. Sarah comes to the family wearing a yellow bonnet and when they see her she is plain and tall just like she said she would be. Caleb and Anna think that Sarah wants to leave when she asks their father to teach her to ride a horse and drive a buggy. Sarah does not leave. She comes back from town and brings paints for the children to use that represent the colors of the sea in Maine. She stays for good and will be marrying Pa soon. Anna and Caleb will finally get the mother they always dreamed of.
This chapter book is full of adventure and children would love to read it. Teachers could use this book to open the dialogue about single parent families or step parents. Even though some students may be in different situations, there are many ideas that could be discussed about families.
