by Deborah HopkinsonIllustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root
Published by An Anne Schwartz Book/Atheneum, 1997
Ages 7, 8, 9, 10
Diary entries from January 1855 to January 1856 document a year in the life of a fictional girl based on a composite of the many true-life female lighthouse keepers. The family's move to a new lighthouse island, the departure of her older brother, Nate, and increasing responsibilities for ten-year-old Birdie are the highlights of her year. Exquisite pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations enliven an already adventurous tale, bound in a 6 1/4 x 11 1/2" volume that resembles, appropriately, a lighthouse. CCBC categories: Easy Fiction; Historical People, Places and Events. 32 pages, © Cooperative Children's Book Center
Root's evocative watercolor and pen-and-ink drawings in deep sea blues and greens are perfectly allied with Hopkinson's stirring tale, set off the coast of Maine in 1855, of a girl's life as a lightkeeper. Bertha Holland, known as Birdie, starts a diary when she's ten that takes readers through the year her father leaves sailing to become keeper of a lighthouse. Her brother, Nate, becomes a fisherman, but Birdie loves the look of the sea from the tower and the work of caring for the lamps, filling them with oil, and making sure they burn through the night to guide sailors to safety. When her father takes ill, she keeps the lamps working throughout a fierce storm, and finds that she has guided to harbor Nate's fishing boat. Period details and a spirited heroine with a clear voice make this book a genuine delight. Hopkinson notes that although Birdie is a fictional character, she was inspired by several real lighthouse keepers, among them Grace Darling of England and Abigail Burgess Grant of Maine.
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