2008 Notable Books for Children

Lightship

by Brian Floca is a 2008 Notable Children's book and begins with a detailed diagram drawing of a lightship. This pictorial story has fictional characters retelling true accounts of lightships that once existed in the 1800's in the United States. The lightship's crew and pet cat take us along their daily routine. There purpose was to guide other boats towards safe waters. They would sail and float around our waters in areas where lighthouses could not be built. With the help of its water-colored illustrations we get an inside look of the ship. As crew members are busy working, cooking, and sleeping we see a picture of a cat just wondering around the grounds of the lightship. The story ends with the same diagram of the lightship that is found at the beginning of the story.

This is a cute book for young elementary children to read especially those who are interested in boats. My eight year old son enjoyed reading it and found it hilarious to have the picture of the cat here-and-there throughout the book.