Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall

This charming, beautifully illustrated book shows younger readers the story of a lighthouse keeper devoted to protecting ships at sea. But it is also an appreciation of the passage of time of a young family living in isolation.

As she explains at the back of the book, Blackall’s inspiration came from an old print showing a cutaway of a lighthouse in Newfoundland that she found in a flea market. From there she researched the lives of lighthouse keepers and their families.

These days, electric lights have replaced oil lamps but 100 years ago, keeping the light burning was an important responsibility.

The pictures and story take us from the lonely lighthouse keeper who tossed messages in bottles out to sea to the arrival of his wife, sickness and then the birth of a child. Along the way they save the lives of shipwrecked sailors, observe the passing seasons and the whales. They await the tender arriving with supplies and there’s always the constant need to run up and down the stairs.