Lynn Plourde - Children's Book Author

BIRDIE'S LIGHTHOUSE

AUTHOR: Deborah Hopkinson / ILLUSTRATOR: Kimberly Bulcken Root
AGE LEVEL / LENGTH: 4-8 years / 32 pages
PUBLISHER / COPYRIGHT DATE: Atheneum, a division of Simon & Schuster / 1997
FORMAT / ISBN: Hardcover / 0689810520

This book stands tall (6 x 12 inches) like the lighthouse it tells about. In this work of historical fiction, set in the year 1855, ten-year-old Bertha Holland ("but most folks call me Birdie") recounts a year of her life. In diary format, she tells how her family moved from a coastal Maine fishing village to Turtle Island, where she learned to become her father's assistant lighthouse keeper.

When her father becomes ill, Birdie must tend the lighthouse by herself during a fierce storm. Wet and exhausted, Birdie falls asleep in the lighthouse tower. She awakens to find it is too dark—"the lamps [are] almost out of oil." Birdie races to fill the lamps, and just in time, too, as the beacon leads a struggling boat away from dangerous rocks. The rescued boat is a fishing vessel on which her older brother works.

An author's note explains that Birdie's Lighthouse is based upon several real lighthouse heroines, including Maine's own Abbie Burgess, who assisted her father with the lighthouse on Matinicus Rock in the mid-1800s. Young readers of Birdie's Lighthouse will get a flavor of an earlier way of life, including the foods (fritters, salt pork, and cornmeal), the expressions ("smearin' in," "Mares' tails and mackerel sky, never twenty-four hours dry"), and the details of lighthouse keeping (filling the oil lamps, polishing the reflectors, trimming the wicks).

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

1. Make lists of similarities and differences. On one piece of paper write all the ways that your life is like Birdie's life. For example, did you both have pet cats or younger sisters? Did you both move to a new place? On a second piece of paper write all the ways that your life is different than Birdie's life—your hobbies, the foods you eat, the jobs of your parents, etc. Which list was longer—the ways your life was similar to Birdie's or different than Birdie's? Why do you think that list was longer?

2. Birdie's Lighthouse is written in a diary-format that is shaped like a lighthouse. Make your own specially-shaped diary that reflects an interest of yours. For example, you might cut papers into the shape of a fish if you enjoy fishing. Attach the papers together into a booklet. Then write about all your fishing adventures in your fish-shaped diary. Or you might make a diary in the shape of a wheel (to symbolize your bicycle) for writing your biking adventures. Or one in the shape of a shoe or boot to write about your hiking adventures, etc.

3. Explore Maine coastal maps. Is there really a Turtle Island off the coast of Maine? If so, where is it? Does it have a lighthouse on it? Look on the map at the places along the Maine coast where lighthouses are located. Why do you think lighthouses were located in those places?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deborah Hopkinson grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, but she vacationed every summer in Rangeley, Maine. Hopkinson states, "I believe that there are certain places where you somehow feel deeply at home. Maine is one of those special places for me." Hopkinson received a Bachelors degree in English from the University of Hawaii. She currently lives with her husband and two children, in Walla Walla, Washington, where she works as the Director of Development and Administrative Services at Whitman College.

Birdie's Lighthouse, a Junior Library Guild Selection, is Hopkinson's second picture book. She is also the author of Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt which won the 1994 International Reading Association Award and has been featured on public broadcasting's Reading Rainbow. Curriculum and classroom activities related to Birdie's Lighthouse can be found on Hopkinson's home web page: http://whitman.edu/hopkinda~.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Kimberly Bulcken Root created pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations for Birdie's Lighthouse. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Parsons School in New York City. Root has illustrated many children's books, including When the Whippoorwill Calls, by Candace Ransom, which was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book in 1995; and Papa's Bedtime Story, by Lee Donovan, for which she received a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators. Root currently lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with her husband and two young children. Her husband, Barry Root, also illustrates children's books.

BIRDIE'S LIGHTHOUSE AUTHOR: Deborah Hopkinson / ILLUSTRATOR: Kimberly Bulcken Root AGE LEVEL / LENGTH: 4-8 years / 32 pages PUBLISHER / COPYRIGHT DATE: Atheneum, a division of Simon & Schuster / 1997 FORMAT / ISBN: Hardcover / 0689810520 This book stands tall (6 x 12 inches) like the lighthouse it tells about. In this work of historical fiction, set in the year 1855, ten-year-old Bertha Holland ("but most folks call me Birdie") recounts a year of her life. In diary format, she tells how her family moved from a coastal Maine fishing village to Turtle Island, where she learned to become her father's assistant lighthouse keeper. When her father becomes ill, Birdie must tend the lighthouse by herself during a fierce storm. Wet and exhausted, Birdie falls asleep in the lighthouse tower. She awakens to find it is too dark—"the lamps [are] almost out of oil." Birdie races to fill the lamps, and just in time, too, as the beacon leads a struggling boat away from dangerous rocks. The rescued boat is a fishing vessel on which her older brother works. An author's note explains that Birdie's Lighthouse is based upon several real lighthouse heroines, including Maine's own Abbie Burgess, who assisted her father with the lighthouse on Matinicus Rock in the mid-1800s. Young readers of Birdie's Lighthouse will get a flavor of an earlier way of life, including the foods (fritters, salt pork, and cornmeal), the expressions ("smearin' in," "Mares' tails and mackerel sky, never twenty-four hours dry"), and the details of lighthouse keeping (filling the oil lamps, polishing the reflectors, trimming the wicks). LEARNING ACTIVITIES 1. Make lists of similarities and differences. On one piece of paper write all the ways that your life is like Birdie's life. For example, did you both have pet cats or younger sisters? Did you both move to a new place? On a second piece of paper write all the ways that your life is different than Birdie's life—your hobbies, the foods you eat, the jobs of your parents, etc. Which list was longer—the ways your life was similar to Birdie's or different than Birdie's? Why do you think that list was longer? 2. Birdie's Lighthouse is written in a diary-format that is shaped like a lighthouse. Make your own specially-shaped diary that reflects an interest of yours. For example, you might cut papers into the shape of a fish if you enjoy fishing. Attach the papers together into a booklet. Then write about all your fishing adventures in your fish-shaped diary. Or you might make a diary in the shape of a wheel (to symbolize your bicycle) for writing your biking adventures. Or one in the shape of a shoe or boot to write about your hiking adventures, etc. 3. Explore Maine coastal maps. Is there really a Turtle Island off the coast of Maine? If so, where is it? Does it have a lighthouse on it? Look on the map at the places along the Maine coast where lighthouses are located. Why do you think lighthouses were located in those places? ABOUT THE AUTHOR Deborah Hopkinson grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, but she vacationed every summer in Rangeley, Maine. Hopkinson states, "I believe that there are certain places where you somehow feel deeply at home. Maine is one of those special places for me." Hopkinson received a Bachelors degree in English from the University of Hawaii. She currently lives with her husband and two children, in Walla Walla, Washington, where she works as the Director of Development and Administrative Services at Whitman College. Birdie's Lighthouse, a Junior Library Guild Selection, is Hopkinson's second picture book. She is also the author of Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt which won the 1994 International Reading Association Award and has been featured on public broadcasting's Reading Rainbow. Curriculum and classroom activities related to Birdie's Lighthouse can be found on Hopkinson's home web page: http://whitman.edu/hopkinda~. ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR Kimberly Bulcken Root created pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations for Birdie's Lighthouse. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Parsons School in New York City. Root has illustrated many children's books, including When the Whippoorwill Calls, by Candace Ransom, which was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book in 1995; and Papa's Bedtime Story, by Lee Donovan, for which she received a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators. Root currently lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with her husband and two young children. Her husband, Barry Root, also illustrates children's books.
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