Lighthouse Stories

After her grandfather's funeral, Sarah wakes her father in the middle of the night so they can go to the lighthouse her grandfather loved and remember other night-time visits there.

A beloved picture book from two-time Caldecott Medal award-winner Sophie Blackall that transports readers to the seaside in timeless, nautical splendor! Watch the days and seasons pass as the wind blows, the fog rolls in, and icebergs drift by. Outside, there is water all around. Inside, the daily life of a lighthouse keeper and his family unfolds as the keeper boils water for tea, lights the lamp's wick, and writes every detail in his logbook. Step back in time and through the door of this iconic lighthouse into a cozy dollhouse-like interior with the extraordinary award-winning artist Sophie Blackall.

In 2007, Caroline Woodward was itching for a change. With an established career in book-selling and promotion, four books of her own and having raised a son with her husband, Jeff, she yearned for adventure and to re-ignite her passion for writing. Jeff was tired of piecing together low-paying part-time jobs and, with Caroline’s encouragement, applied for a position as a relief lightkeeper on a remote North Pacific island. They endured lonely months of living apart, but the way of life rejuvenated Jeff and inspired Caroline to contemplate serious shifts in order to accompany him. When a permanent position for a lighthouse keeper became available, Caroline quit her job and joined Jeff on the lights. Caroline soon learned that the lighthouse-keeping life does not consist of long, empty hours in which to write. The reality is hard physical labour, long stretches of isolation and the constant threat of de-staffing. Beginning with a 3:30 a.m. weather report, the days are filled with maintaining the light station buildings, sea sampling, radio communication, beach cleanup, wildlife encounters and everything in between. As for dangerous rescue missions or dramatic shipwrecks—that kind of excitement is rare. “So far the only life I know I’ve saved is my own,” she says, with her trademark dry wit. Yet Caroline is exhilarated by the scenic coastline with its drizzle and fog, seabirds and whales, and finds time to grow a garden and, as anticipated, write. Told with eloquent introspection and an eye for detail, Light Years is the personal account of a lighthouse keeper in twenty-first century British Columbia—an account that details Caroline’s endurance of extreme climatic, interpersonal and medical challenges, as well as the practical and psychological aspects of living a happy, healthy, useful and creative life in isolation.

Lighthouses remain a fascination to most people. The light beam still flashes a warning to all shipping and acts as a guide to safe harbour in rough weather, but unfortunately the lighthouse keepers are now a thing of the past. Modern technology has meant that satellite navigation where signals can be bounced off satellites to turn engines on and off and fog signals can be operated from ashore without the trusty keepers. The lights still twinkle and backup systems ensure ships still have guidance to safety. No keepers, alas: they have all been made redundant. The way of life of the lighthouse keeper is now well past. The reader of my stories should gain an insight into what being a keeper was all about. The working details provide a fair look at what makes a lighthouse function. The short stories cover a wide variety of different locations including the Channel Islands. Characters within the service are as varied as the lighthouse but there is always a story to tell given the nature of the work and the importance of safety at sea for shipping. As always, it’s the sea that is the master in everything that happens but humour keeps rearing its head to remind us of the simple things in life; it constantly raises a smile. Although lighthouses are now unmanned, the public is still curious about their history and what a keeper's life was all about. This book and its stories perhaps can give an insight into a time when keepers were essential to safe passage.

A Toronto Star bestseller * A Globe and Mail bestseller * A New York Post "must-read" book The Light Between Oceans meets The Language of Flowers in this beautiful debut novel by an acclaimed Canadian children’s author. Elizabeth's eyes have failed. She can no longer read the books she loves or see the paintings that move her spirit, but her mind remains sharp and music fills the vacancy left by her blindness as she ruminates on the secrets in her family's past. When her late father's journals are discovered on a shipwrecked boat, she enlists the help of a delinquent teenager, Morgan, who is completing community service at the senior home where Elizabeth lives. An unlikely relationship develops between the two as they work to decipher the books and are drawn into the musty words he penned more than seventy years before as he manned the lighthouse on Porphyry Island. In the process they come to realize that they are both connected to the isolated island, their lives touched by Elizabeth's enigmatic twin sister Emily and the beautiful but harsh Lake Superior environment. While the discovery of Morgan's connection sheds light onto her own family mysteries, the faded pages of the journals hold more questions than answers for Elizabeth, and threaten the very core of who she is. Combining an emotional story of human connection with a mystery spanning decades, this tale of family, identity, and art will captivate and resonate with readers.

Wood Island Lighthouse is the fifth-oldest lighthouse in the state, and it has cast its beacon into the Gulf of Maine for more than two hundred years. Its myths and legends have passed through the generations as it set the scene for murders, suicides, shipwrecks, ghosts, heroism and even humorous events. The lighthouse keepers, their families and even their pets have helped shape a unique patchwork of history at this lonely outpost. Local historian and board member of the Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse Richard Parsons reveals the fascinating human history behind this welcoming light.

Once there was a lighthouse keeper called Mr Grinling... Mr Grinling LOVES his food, but - oh no! - he's not the only one who likes a snack and the local seagulls have started stealing Mrs Grinling's tasty treats...! Can Mr and Mrs Grinling come up with a cunning plan to keep those pesky seagulls away?

Once there was a lighthouse keeper called Mr. Grinling. At night time he lived in a small white cottage perched high on the cliffs, and in the daytime he rowed out to his lighthouse to clean and polish the light. The Lighthouse Inspectors have decided that it's time for Mr Grinling to retire. But when a stranded whale desperately needs the Grinlings' help, the Lighthouse Inspectors realise that Mr Grinling is still the best man for the job. The first Lighthouse Keeper story, THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S LUNCH, was published over thirty years ago and his adventures have been loved by children ever since. It is now a modern picture book classic.