I am so excited to share this book with you. I love lighthouses but here is another feature which might 'blow you away'. This is a Russian book! I don't usually notice publishers but this one has an intriguing name 'b small'. The only tiny detail missing from their copyright page is the Russian title but you can see it here on the author web site along with some illustrations from this wonderful book.
The information in How Does a Lighthouse work? opens with a first person narrative. The class are off on a school trip to the lighthouse. There are fifteen questions in this book and each is covered with a double page of easy to read information, illustrations and diagrams.
- What is a lighthouse for?
- What will I find at a lighthouse station?
- What's it like on the top deck?
- How does the light shine so far?
- How do you tell lighthouses apart?
There are pages at the back with famous lighthouses from around the world and a page where you make design decisions for your own lighthouse based on the new knowledge you have from reading this book.
I have visited lighthouses in many parts of the world and I have done several lighthouse tours (just like the children in this book) but I learnt some new things here. For example, I did not know that "lighthouses have different patterns on them" so that sailors can tell them apart and get an accurate location for their ship.
This book is the first in a planned series - How it works. The next title will be How does a bridge work?
Here is an excellent detailed review by Minerva reads. Here is a quote: "this book’s beam of knowledge should stretch across the widest seas."
My fascination with lighthouses goes back to childhood holidays spent on Lighthouse Road at Port Macquarie in NSW. There was, naturally, a lighthouse the end of the street and I loved spending time sitting beside the white walls in the sunshine. The isolated lives of the lighthouse keeper and his family, the tower shape and glorious locations of lighthouses also fascinate me. You can see some other picture books about Lighthouses on my friend's kinderbookswitheverything page. I have a Pinterest of ideas which I gathered when one of my teachers did a unit of work using The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch.
Here are two of my favourite lighthouses.
Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, Canada
Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peggy%27s_Point_Lighthouse_at_Peggy%27s_Cove.jpg
Port Macquarie, NSW Australia Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Port_Macquarie.JPG
Keep an eye out for this new book - winner of the 2019 Caldecott Medal. It is a must read for all lighthouse fans.
1 comment:
Go girl! It is a great blog entry.
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