Friday, January 11, 2008

Lightship, by Brian Floca

Unlike other ships at sea, the lightship does not go anywhere but "holds her one true spot" and illuminates the way around danger for other ships in fog and bad weather. A very brief text has a gently rocking rhythm for reading aloud and along with the illustrations show the crew (including a cat) in their day to day activities. An author's note provides more information about these floating beacons allowing readers to compare and contrast lightships with our familiar North Carolina lighthouses.

Grades K-4

2 comments:

Betsy said...

I"ll second.

Great comparison to our wonderful lighthouses; this shows that our way to steer ships to safety (lighthouses) isn't the only way.

Humorous illustrations (carefully addressed picture book cursing and vague potty humor) draw the reader in as we view the boat from various perspectives. We get to know the crew in their different roles on board, even the ship's cat.

Sad the old workhorse ships are gone now.

Karen Gavigan said...

Agreed. The simple phrases (often repeated) and the detailed illustrations make this an engaging title. Love the illustration on the back of the book - crewman and cat asleep with book entitled 99 Ways to Cook Scrod.