Sarah, Plain & Tall: Book vs. Movie

I am delighted today to bring to you my comparing thoughts on a story that has become a dear favourite of mine.
I had seen the movies years ago. Then a few weeks ago I listened to nearly the whole series(except the very last book) on audiobook. I fell in love! The very first book is my favourite and that is the one I will be discussing today.

The Book

Summary from Goodreads:
"Set in the late 19th century and told from Anna's point of view, Sarah, Plain & Tall tells the story of how Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton comes from Maine to the prairie to answer Papa's advertisement for a wife and mother. Before Sarah arrives, Anna and her youngest brother Caleb wait and wonder. Will Sarah be nice? Will she sing? Will she stay?"


The audiobook I listened to was read by Glenn Close(who plays Sarah in the movies) and she read it really well. She had a different voice for each character and you could even hear smiling in her voice at the appropriate moments.
MacLachlan's writing is addictive and really lovely.
Caleb is my favourite character, besides Sarah, of course. He is curious, bold in asking questions and very cute.

There are five books in total:

1. Sarah, Plain, and Tall
2. Skylark (both from Anna's POV)
3. Caleb's Story(Caleb's POV)
4. More Perfect Than the Moon(Cassie's POV, Spoiler: Cassie is Jacob and Sarah's child)
5. Grandfather's Dance(I have not read this one yet, Cassie's POV)

The Movie

Glenn Close plays Sarah very well in my opinion. She suits the role. She is exactly as she is in the book. Kind, friendly, sea-loving, hardworking, and well...she's Sarah!

Christopher Walken plays Jacob Whitting. Jacob in the movie is rather more dull and grim than the Jacob in the book, and I'll explain more about that later.

Anna and Caleb are played by Lexi Randall and Christopher Bell. Christopher Bell is a very cute boy in the movie and suits his role perfectly.
Caleb is the same in the movie as he is in the book, but Anna is different.

And now these are the differences:

1. In the book, the whole Whitting family greatly anticipates Sarah's arrival and all hope that she will stay. Neither of them has any resentment toward Sarah replacing their previous wife and mother. But in the movie, Anna is unhappy that her father sent for a new mother and takes a little while to adjust. Jacob too, has a hard time letting go of his deceased wife and accepting Sarah to truly help them.
That's the biggest difference between the book and the movie.

2. The Whitting's neighbors, Maggie and Matthew. In the book, Maggie is from a different area of America and so she has a different accent. In the movie, however, she is Dutch or German or something along those lines.

3. This is only a little thing but in the book, they own two dogs, Lottie and Nick. In the movie, there is only Nick.

How cute is he? ♥♥♥

Overall, I think the book is better but whether you watch the movie or read the book you will still get a lovely story.
Have I convinced you to pick up this story for yourself?

xoxo
Hannah