‘On the highest rock of a tiny island at the edge of the world, stands a lighthouse. It is built to last forever.’
Hello, Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall is the most beautiful tribute to lighthouses of old.
It takes us through the journey of the new keeper as he adjusts to his life on a remote lighthouse. His days are spent maintaining the lighthouse, trimming the wick, and refilling the oil of the light. His days are spent painting, fishing, sewing, writing letters, embroidery, and recording in the logbook. His wife joins him, brought to the island on a tender that delivers his provisions, supplies, and book. Together they tend to the lighthouse, support each other, rescue shipwrecked sailors, and ensure that the light never goes out. When the family grows, they continue to enjoy their life in the lighthouse. However, when word comes that the Coast Guard is bringing a new mechanical light, the keeper is sad to leave his precious lighthouse.
I chose this book for our theme around ‘Oceans’, skeptical about whether the children would take to its tone which reflects the matter-of-fact tone of a logbook entry. Much like the real lighthouses, serve as a beacon in different ways, I found it a compelling read and as I read it aloud I found that my students were thoroughly captivated. Maybe it was the spectacular, dramatic illustrations that highlight the changing seasons and the drama of the ocean or the fact that they hadn’t paid much attention to these silent sentinels, having seen them in Chennai and Mahabalipuram. Maybe it was the long length of the book, which reflected the height of the lighthouse… whatever it is, this Caldecott Medal winner is a keeper.
It opened up conversations about lighthouses, their purpose, the ones located close to us, how technology replaces jobs, the changing seasons, the drama of the seas, loneliness, and the lighthouse keeper’s full days as he fulfilled his duties and entertained himself.
The detailed afterword outlines the crucial work that lighthouse keepers did and how technology replaced them.
As an extension of the book, children imagined that their home was a lighthouse, and were asked to think of how they would occupy themselves without technology.
“What!!?? No YouTube?” one young one asked me. “No phones?” said another.
It was a tough ask, given today’s children.
But the way the keeper was portrayed in this book, helped direct their minds to all the possibilities minus technology.
One of my younger students, who was not asked to respond to the book, was so taken with the story, that he went home immediately and sat down to draw, carrying the magic of the book home with him and responding in his own way.
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