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    More Perfect than the Moon
    More Perfect than the Moon
    More Perfect than the Moon
    Ebook63 pages46 minutes

    More Perfect than the Moon

    By Patricia MacLachlan

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The fourth book in the series that began with the Newbery Medal–winning Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.

    I am a watcher. I am a listener, too. I am invisible. I can make myself so small and quiet and hidden that sometimes no one knows I am there to watch and listen.

    Cassie spends her days watching Grandfather and Caleb in the barn, looking out at Papa working the fields, spying on her mother, Sarah, feeding the goslings. She's an observer, a writer, a storyteller. Everything is as it should be.

    But change is inevitable, even on the prairie. Something new is expected, and Sarah says it will be the perfect gift. Cassie isn't so sure. But just as life changes, people change too. And Cassie learns that unexpected surprises can bring great joy.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 25, 2013
    ISBN9780062285751
    More Perfect than the Moon
    Author

    Patricia MacLachlan

    Patricia MacLachlan (1938-2022) was the celebrated author of many timeless books for young readers, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal. She was also the author of many beloved picture books, a number of which she cowrote with her daughter, Emily.

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    Reviews for More Perfect than the Moon

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      Three-year-old Cassie doesn't want another baby in the family. She was hoping her mom would bring her a gift "more perfect than the moon." A quick read (less than an hour).
    • 4/5
      Cassie is now narrating and is a much more lyrical and imaginative writer than her elder half-siblings. The family is about to expand again because Sarah is pregnant and Cassie is not sure she's happy about that.An easily readable novel for juveniles with life lessons and an historical perspective.
    • 3/5
      This book is a good example of a realistic fiction, because the story line is very relatable and believable. It could be a historical fiction, but the time period is not clearly defined. This book also displays good character development through the main character Cassandra. In the beginning, she hates the baby that her mother is carrying and by the end she realizes that this baby is a blessing.
    • 4/5
      We're back with the Witting family, but the narrator's job has been passed from Caleb to his little sister, Cassie. Cassie is now eight years old, with an imagination as large as the prairie where they live. There is change in the air, and Cassie's world is rocked from its routine; she doesn't like it, and expresses her feelings in her journal.I adore Cassie and her imagination. This is a lovely addition to the Sarah Plain and Tall saga.
    • 4/5
      Young Christy is given a diary to write in. She writes of her family and the ‘horrible baby’ that is coming. She believes that she will be left alone when it comes.
    • 4/5
      Cassie is now eight, living with her parents, brother Caleb, and Grandfather. It's now her turn to keep a journal, and in it she adds a little fiction to their lives, as well as her hopes and dreams, and worries when Mama suddenly needs more sleep and doesn't feel well.Adult readers will figure out pretty quickly that Sarah is pregnant, and much of the story is Cassie not wanting a new baby in the house. Another quick, generally comforting read in the series from Newbery-award winning MacLachlan. It didn't quite have the sparkle of [Sarah, Plain and Tall] and [Skylark], but it's a solid read.

    Book preview

    More Perfect than the Moon - Patricia MacLachlan

    Dedication

    For Joanna Cotler and Justin Chanda—

    with appreciation

    with love

    —P.M.

    Contents

    Dedication

    1

    2

    3

    4

    5

    6

    7

    8

    9

    10

    Extract from Grandfather’s Dance

    1

    About the Author

    Also by Patricia MacLachlan

    Back Ads

    Credits

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    Hello. I am writing here now. My brother Caleb says it is my turn to keep the journal. He is busy working the farm most of the time, and when haying time comes he’ll be busy all the time.

    I am almost in third grade. I can spell, you know. And I know many words, some of them important words. Like

    windswept

    imagination

    ecstatic.

    I will have to look up the meaning of ecstatic. But I can spell it.

    I am a watcher. I am a listener, too. I am invisible. I can make myself so small and quiet and hidden that sometimes no one knows I am there to watch and listen.

    Except for Grandfather. He finds me everywhere. He sees me when I’m hiding. Grandfather tells me he can see through walls.

    But he won’t stop me.

    I will find lots to write about.

    Watch me.

    —Cassandra Sarah Witting

    1

    Summer was cool and wet, and the barnyard was muddy. It was like spring left over. The cats jumped from the fence and ran into the barn so they could sleep in the dry hay.

    I see you there, you know, Grandfather called to me. Hiding behind Martha.

    Grandfather knew the names of all our cows. Martha was black, with a white spot on her rump.

    I stood up.

    I’m not hiding, I said. I’m studying Martha’s spot.

    This made Grandfather smile. And Caleb.

    You were hiding, said Grandfather. It made Martha nervous. I could see her eyes roll.

    Martha turned and stared at me.

    Martha always rolls her eyes, I told Grandfather.

    He laughed out loud. He and Caleb were digging trenches in the mud so the rains would run off.

    You’re sneaky, Cassie, said Caleb.

    Elusive, I told him. Mama says I’m elusive.

    Sarah always finds a word to make you look better, said Caleb. I say you’re sneaky.

    Caleb has always called Mama Sarah. My mama is not Caleb’s real mama. But she is mine. He and Anna called her Sarah when she first came to meet Papa. Before they were married. I call her Mama. Maybe someday I’ll call her Sarah.

    I’m looking for things to write about, I told Caleb. It just looks like I’m sneaky.

    I took my notebook out of my coat pocket and began reading to them.

    ‘Grandfather and Caleb dug deep rivers in the mud so the cows, Martha, Eleni, Princess, Mary Louise, Pudgie, and Boots, can float into the barn to feed.’

    That’s not the truth! said Caleb.

    Yes it is, I said. It is storytelling.

    Made up, said Caleb.

    Maybe, I said, turning away and walking through the mud to the barn. I turned once to see Grandfather smiling at me, Caleb staring.

    Maybe,

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