Lightship

Author & Illustrator:   Brian Floca
Publisher:  Anthenum
Publication Year:   2007
Location: Knox County Public Library- Lawson McGhee

Awards:   Sibert Honor Book, Booklist’s Top Picture Book, Cybil Award for Best Nonfiction Picture Book, ALA Notable, Junior Library Guild Premier
 
Summary:  This is a tribute to the lightships that were anchored to warn ships away from hazards in the ocean. It introduces the crew and the jobs that they each do. The off kilter illustrations bring the feeling of the movement of a ship on the ocean. Floca's descriptions of the ship and the crew are highly accessible for young readers. The full-page spreads of the heat with a glowing sun and the cold with falling snow are gorgeous! The font and words used when the lightship blows its warning horn in the fog is priceless and kids will visit that page again and again.

Classroom Ideas: A preschool/kindergarten class study of transportation or ships/boats would be perfect for this book. There is a great deal of onomatopoeia.

Extras: The endpapers include a labeled diagram and an author's note explains more about the lightships that were used from the 1730s to the 1980s.