Product Description

It's not fair, Emma thinks, for her parents to go away (for five whole days) and leave her with an aunt and uncle she hardly knows. What if they don't like children? But Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Eliot like Emma and her brother, Zachary, just fine. They also like rules. Rules about: Eating. Sleeping. Cleaning up. Messing up. Emma doesn't believe in rules. Not unless they're hers: Eating no broccoli, dead or alive. Sleeping: No sleeping in a room where night rumbles hide. Cleaning up: Don't. Messing up: Do. Emma can see that Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Elliot have a lot to learn about being parents.But that's okay---because Emma has five whole days in which to teach them.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #416898 in Books
• Published on: 1988-07-05
• Released on: 1994-02-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780064402316
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"The writing is luminous; - romantic ten and twelve-year-old girls will love it. -- ---School Library Journal

[A] brief understated story full of humor and the warmth of family caring and mutual affection. -- Horn Book

“[A] brief understated story full of humor and the warmth of family caring and mutual affection.” -- Horn Book

Review
"[A] brief understated story full of humor and the warmth of family caring and mutual affection." (Horn Book )

About the Author
Patricia MacLachlan was born on the prairie, and to this day carries a small bag of prairie dirt with her wherever she goes to remind her of what she knew first. She is the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; it's sequel, Skylark; Three Names, illustrated by Alex Pertzoff; and All The Places To Love, illustrated by Mike Wimmer. She lives in western Massachusetts.

In Her Own Words...

"One thing I've learned with age and parenting is that life comes in circles. Recently, I was having a bad time writing. I felt disconnected. I had moved to a new home and didn't feel grounded. The house, the land was unfamiliar to me. There was no garden yet. Why had I sold my old comfortable 1793 home? The one with the snakes in the basement, mice everywhere, no closets. I would miss the cold winter air that came in through the electrical sockets.

"I had to go this day to talk to a fourth-grade class, and I banged around the house, complaining. Hard to believe, since I am so mild mannered and pleasant, isn't it? What did I have to say to them? I thought what I always think when I enter a room of children. What do I know?

"I plunged down the hillside and into town, where a group of fourth-grade children waited for me in the library, freshly scrubbed, expectant. Should I be surprised that what usually happens did so? We began to talk about place, our living landscapes. And I showed them my little bag of prairie dirt from where I was born. Quite simply, we never got off the subject of place. Should I have been so surprised that these young children were so concerned with place, or with the lack of it, their displacement? Five children were foster children, disconnected from their homes. One little boy's house had burned down, everything gone. "Photographs, too," he said sadly. Another told me that he was moving the next day to place he'd never been. I turned and saw the librarian, tears coming down her face.

"'You know,' I said. "Maybe I should take this bag of prairie dirt and toss it into my new yard. I'll never live on the prairie again. I live here now. The two places could mix together that way!" "No!" cried a boy from the back. "Maybe the prairie dirt will blow away!" And then a little girl raised her hand. "I think you should put that prairie dirt in a glass bowl in your window so that when you write you can see it all the time. So you can always see what you knew first."

"When I left the library, I went home to write. What You Know First owes much to the children of the Jackson Street School: the ones who love place and will never leave it, the ones who lost everything and have to begin again. I hope for them life comes in circles, too."

Customer Reviews

A cute book!
This is a cute book. When Emma's parents go out of town to an "Eye Ball meeting" their aunt and uncle come to stay with them. While there the kids ( Emma and Zach ) teach their uncle and aunt how to be good parents. The story is cute and the characters are believable. There are lots of words on the pages. The ending is endearing. I think kids between 7-9 might enjoy this book. .

Great Book!!
If you liked any of Patricia MacLachlan's books, this one will satisfy you! It's about Emma, who is eight years old, whose father is an "Eyeball Doctor" and has to go to an "Eyeball Meeting" with Emma's mother, which means Emma and her teenage brother Zach's uncle and aunt have to come baby-sit them for a week. This week teaches Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Elliot about being parents, from divided grapefruits to "night rumbles", and it teaches Emma and Zach about "different spokes for different folks". I read this book when I was 11, but my sisters, ages 7 and 6, listened to it as a read aloud, so I really can recomend it to anyone!! Great book indeed!

Patricia MacLachlan's Seven Kisses in a Row Makes a Sweet Children's Book
Emma, who's 8 years old, has woken up almost every morning of her life to 7 kisses in a row from each of her parents. But her father is an `eye doctor' and had to attend an `eye doctor conference', bringing her mother along. With their parents gone Emma and her brother are being taken care of by their Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Elliot. In this cute, 7 chapter story, Emma and Zachary have 5 days to teach their Aunt and Uncle how to be good parents. I would give this book 3 stars, and recommend it to any 7, 8, or 9 year old.