The Abandoned Lighthouse (review)

In this simple, fantastical tale, a bear and a boy arrive at an abandoned lighthouse just in time to deter an approaching ship from crashing into the rocky shore. Both arrive by accident in the same rowboat; the bear falls asleep in the boat, which he finds washed ashore, and the boy and his dog jump into the floating boat when chasing a ball along the beach and are pulled out to sea. Upon meeting at the lighthouse, the boy and the bear share an evening of merriment before retiring for the night; the boy's barking pup alerts the others to the endangered ship, whereupon they light the lamp and avert the tragedy. The boy/beast friendship and the casual return to normalcy after a fantastical nocturnal outing recall Where the Wild Things Are (an echo heightened by McPhail's illustrative style); readers will be rapidly drawn into the nighttime setting, wherein a little bit of playfulness is offset by the possibility of a lot of danger. The narrative is perfectly structured, with each of the elements neatly and sequentially introduced and incorporated into the story. McPhail's line-and-watercolor illustrations dramatically capture both the landscape and the dreamscape of the story: lofty clouds, white-capped waves, and the undulations of the sea offer the suggestion of something ethereal while at the same time grounding the story in its literal seaside setting. Shifting perspectives throughout the illustrations (above the lighthouse, below the waterfall) add further dimensionality and depth. Independent readers with a taste for fantasy will not be disappointed in this thoughtful little book.