What You Know First

By Patricia MacLachlan

Book Overview

The stunning picture book collaboration between Newbery Medal-winning author Patricia MacLachlan and acclaimed illustrator Barry Moser. A young girl 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 mementos--a bag of earth and a piece of cottonwood tree. "As with Sarah, Plain and Tall , the subtext 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."--School Library Journal 1995 American Bookseller Association Pick of the Lists

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0064434923
• ISBN13: 9780064434928
• Release Date: February 1998
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 9.1" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

A nice poetic read

Great for my students as we read about the Great Plains and the move west. Very sentimental.

I haven't forgotten what I knew first

For any of you who have left home..what you knew first..this book will deeply touch you. As I read this in the bookstore, tears came to my eyes. It's a story of a little girl who struggles to understand why she and her family must leave the only place they know. Though change has its sadness,this book shows the sweetness of memories you take with you forever. This is a good book for a child going through such a change or for an adult who still recalls all those familiar things of home.

Sweet, beautiful story of a child facing change

I love this book for the way the illustrations and story compliment each other so well. The story narrated by a small child facing the prospect of moving to a new home is achingly beautiful. You can feel the child's pain and anxiety about moving to a new place and being afraid of forgetting the old place and the memories therein. The child tells about all the things she will miss and then devises a plan to stay and not go with her family and baby brother. It is a story for anyone who has ever had to face a painful change in his or her life. I could read it again and again.