Patricia MacLachlan (born March 3, 1938 in Cheyenne, Wyoming) is a bestselling U.S. children's author, best known for winning the 1986 Newbery Medal for her book Sarah, Plain and Tall. The book was later turned into a TV movie starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken.

MacLachlan was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She lived in Wyoming and Minnesota before moving East. After graduating from University of Connecticut, she became an English teacher. She and her husband Robert MacLachlan have three children. During this time, she wrote a series of journal articles on adoption and foster mothers that had a major impact on her life. She says, "It was clear to me that much of the focus of my writing was sharpened by my involvement and concern for families and children. This interest, coupled with my commitment to children's literature, provided the basis for my decision to write for children--something I had always wanted to do."

She now lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts with her husband.

MacLachlan is also a board member of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, a national not-for-profit that actively advocates for literacy, literature, and libraries.

Her current projects include two books she's co-written with her daughter, Emily MacLachlan: Bittle and Painting the Wind. Other books by her include Edward's Eyes, The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, Arthur for the Very First Time, and Baby, which was also adapted into a film.

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Patricia MacLachlan", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0