The Lighthouse Children (An I Can Read Book) - Hardcover

Syd Hoff

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060229586 ISBN 13: 9780060229580

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1994

Synopsis

When an old lighthouse keeper and his wife leave their seaside home, they find a way for their old friends, the seagulls, to find them

About this title

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2-Sam and his wife, Rose, tend a lighthouse by the edge of the sea. When a terrible storm damages it beyond repair, they move inland. They enjoy their new surroundings but miss the gulls who flew in for food everyday. Rose suggests they shine a beam of light from their rooftop to attract the birds. While somewhat unlikely, her plan works and the whole neighborhood turns out to meet their "family." Hoff's characteristic colorful illustrations capture the mood of the text and make this another winner in his long list of easy readers.
Lesley McKinstry, Findlay-Hancock County Public Library, OH
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

What a cozy, old-fashioned world this popular author creates--and how improbable, whether it's the precarious placement of old lighthouse-keeper Sam's feet on a winding stair or the story's pat conclusion. Sam and his wife Rose move far inland after their lighthouse is damaged in a storm (``the roof was almost gone,'' says the text, but in the picture it's the whole roof plus half the tower). They miss their favorite gulls, but as soon as they shine a beam of light from their new roof, the seagulls flock around them once more. What happens to ships when the old couple simply decides not to rebuild? Why is their new neighborhood crammed with houses on one page and spacious with lawns on the next? Like the peculiar fissures in the ruins of their lighthouse, these anomalies defy explanation. Cheery, but sloppy. (Easy reader. 5-8) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 1-2. The "children" in the title of this brisk read-alone in the I Can Read series are the 100 seagulls that Sam and Rose affectionately feed everyday. But when a storm destroys the old couple's lighthouse, they move far away from the sea--and their birds. Junior readers may be so caught up in the ingenious reunion that they won't mind the occasional suspension of belief. The continuous text has an inviting cadence ("Lanny, Nanny, Helga and Zelga!"), while Hoff's familiar comic-style artwork is done up in perky primary colors. Julie Corsaro

Edition details

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060229586
• ISBN 13: 9780060229580
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32