Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060244135 ISBN 13: 9780060244132

Publisher: HarperColl, 1995

Mama and Papa say it's time to leave the prairie, to start over somewhere new. But what about all that will be left behind? Things as familiar as a heartbeat -- an ocean of grass, an endless sky, a cottonwood tree. How do you remember those things that can't be packed up and taken away with you? Maybe it's true what Papa says. Maybe you'll remember because the place you know first stays with you forever, no matter where you may go.

1995 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA)

From the Back Cover:

‘A child comes to terms with the fact that she and her family are leaving the prairie. . . . As she talks herself into acceptance, her Mama helps her let go, commenting that the baby will need someone to tell him where he came from. So the girl gathers mementoes—a bag of earth and a piece of cottonwood tree. . . .A novel hides in these few pages. As with Sarah, Plain and Tall, the subext vibrates. So much is told in each perfectly chosen phrase. The story is deep and specific, but the pain and denial of a child leaving a known and loved place is all too universal. Moser’s finely-wrought engravings, enhanced by moody tints, record the departure.’—SLJ.

1995 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA)

About the Author:

Patricia MacLachlan is the celebrated author of many timeless books for young readers, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal. Her novels for young readers include Arthur, For the Very First Time; The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt; Skylark; Caleb's Story; More Perfect Than the Moon; Grandfather's Dance; Word After Word After Word; and Kindred Souls. She is also the author of many much-loved picture books, including Three Names; All the Places to Love; What You Know First; Painting the Wind; Bittle; Who Loves Me?; Once I Ate a Pie; I Didn't Do It; Before You Came; and Cat Talk—several of which she cowrote with her daughter, Emily. She lives with her husband and two border terriers in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.

Barry Moser is the prizewinning illustrator and designer of more than three hundred books for children and adults. He is widely celebrated for his dramatic wood engravings for the only twentieth-century edition of the entire King James Bible illustrated by a single artist. He lives in western Massachusetts.