Lighthouse Perspective

Imagine celebrating Christmas with an almost-empty larder (what a great vocabulary word to promote word consciousness and the use of context clues!) on a rocky island in Penobscot Bay. Add to that the memories of holidays spent on the mainland with family members who played piano and made delicious food.

In Toni Buzzeo's latest book, Lighthouse Christmas, two young siblings, whose father is the lighthouse keeper, spend their first Christmas as a lighthouse family in just that manner. Their hopes were high about going ashore in a dory sent by their aunt. Peter even plans their celebrations in drawings, enticing his big sister Frances to dream about what things could be like. An overturned fishing boat changes their plans, and the lighthouse family spends the holiday with their rescued guest.

The readers in my library loved the ending of this book when the Ledge Light family gets a surprise visit from Santa who drops a package from his plane! They especially liked the author's information about the Flying Santa organization (www.flyingsanta.org).