The Lighthouse Keeper’s Christmas
by Ronda Armitage
illustrated by David Armitage
Scholastic Ltd, London, 2014 (first 2002)
Age group:
Format: 32 page picture book
Have you read stories about Mr Grinling, the lighthouse keeper? It is a popular book and this Christmas addition to the series is welcome for many fans!
The story
Mr Grinling is about to retire from being a Lighthouse Keeper. So he and his great-nephew George clean and decorate the lighthouse for Christmas, only to get trapped there by a storm.
My Christmas book review
For those who have read about Mr Grinling the lighthouse keeper before, this is a lovely Christmas addition to the series started over 30 years ago. In all, there are 8 lighthouse keeper books by Ronda and David Armitage.
George and Mr Grinling were unprepared to stay on the Island, and are sad to be missing Christmas Day. Hunger also makes them sad to be missing Christmas lunch!
As part of their making the best of a remote Christmas, the pair write letters to Santa, even a last minute one which stuck to a window, and see a response. As an adult, I did wonder if it would be safe enough for Santa to visit the lighthouse in that storm, or if it perhaps would have been better to let George know they would get stockings when they go back to the mainland if Santa didn’t make it to the lighthouse. But that’s just me!
Mrs Grinling discovers they are trapped and does her best to bring Christmas to them. Even the seagulls got into the spirit of Christmas by helping the Christmas lunch arrive at the lighthouse!
I can’t avoid mentioning there were some inconsistencies we noticed – one basket produced two roasts, a dish of vegetables, bonbons and more for Christmas lunch; Mrs G sent food over twice, but didn’t notice one load was lost so there was little food overnight (made it more exciting though!); the seagulls were altruistic for Christmas but mindless when they took lost food. Children won’t worry about these details and they didn’t detract from the story, but I did notice them.
Would I recommend The Lighthouse Keeper’s Christmas? Yes! This is a lovely Christmas book with positive lessons, happy pictures and some Santa magic so I think it is great for many ages.
