Thomas Kinkade (1958–2012)

Thirteen-year-old Lizabeth Merchant comes from the richest family in Cape Light and, as such, leads a very privileged life. Her biggest worry is that she might not be crowned Strawberry Queen in Cape Light's upcoming Strawberry Festival. She has little patience for her four-year-old sister, Tracy, who often seeks Lizabeth's attention.

Lizabeth is sent to stay with her cousin Kat's family when Tracy contracts scarlet fever. For Lizabeth, who is used to servants doing all the work in her own show more home, seeing Kat's entire family pitch in to maintain the lighthouse is an eye-opening experience.

Lizabeth worries that she won't be allowed to go back to her home before the Strawberry Festival. Her dress for the festival is still in her room and the house is under quarantine. Lizabeth sneaks out of Kat's bedroom one evening and returns to her home for the dress. While she's there, she checks on Tracy and is startled to see how sick her young sister has become. Suddenly the Strawberry Festival doesn't seem so important any more. The events that follow Tracy's illness will drastically change Lizabeth's view of herself and the people around her.

In the previous Lighthouse Lane books, Lizabeth was the character I liked least, but her story turned out to be my favorite of the series. She's a very self-centered character, but also a very insecure one. She doesn't feel that she has anything to offer beyond her good looks and privileged upbringing, but her sister's illness teaches her a difficult lesson. She realizes that money and material possessions cannot bring her happiness or prevent bad things from happening, and she's a better person for this realization. show less

This was lovely. If someone could take a feeling of peace and contentment, package it, and share it with the world, it may look something like this book. This book is as warm and soothing as a gentle sigh. The pictures are lovely, of course, and the essays ground the book and are quite informative. The inspirational quotes are, well, inspiring, and I mean that. Books with wise and pithy sayings may be a bit formulaic, but this one still was deeply moving, and it gave me much to think about. show more Emily Dickinson wrote a poem once in which a character affirmed that truth and beauty are one. After reading this book and taking in the artwork, I understand that sentiment. show less

"What have we become if we give in to fear and prejudice, if we ignore the facts and let panic override the spirit of compassion?"

It's been years since I used to start a lot of my book reviews with quotes from the books. Now that I've read this novel for the second time since I discovered it twenty years ago, pulling a quote from it feels right.

And timely.

Back when I first read the first four books in the Cape Light series, I immediately considered them to be some of my favorite reads. What show more I appreciated most about the stories still holds after my second readings of Books One and Two.

The characters are such regular, relatable folks, dealing with life in these down-to-earth stories that are so incredibly…readable.

Even with a couple of supporting characters who are, well, downright jerks much of the time, the overall easy readability is still there. And the small-town setting is lovely and rather homey.

Now, there are some aspects of a particular "big reveal" in this story that aren't fully believable, I'd say.

Also, decades ago, I considered the faith content in this novel to be light. Or "lite." (Likely because it isn't evangelical, unlike the content in much of the Christian fiction I used to read.) But now, while I'd still say the faith content in this novel has a gentle vibe, I also find it to be pretty overdone, mainly because of the sermons in multiple church service scenes. I think the writing technique of "show, don't tell" is quite effective, but church sermons in fiction just feel to me like convenient ways to insert paragraphs or pages of telling, in a sense. Spelling out extended lessons from a pulpit.

These days, admittedly, when I come across sermons in novels, I usually skim through or skip past them, which I did in this case.

Nonetheless, I still enjoyed my second go-'round with this book. Even got an inexplicable sense of hope as I settled into the reading. This revisit to Cape Light has been—yeah, such a timely one for me.

Note:
• a former law enforcement character's memories of past violence come up, but the details are brief and non-gratuitous show less

Thomas Kinkade - or more accurately, Thomas Kinkade Studios - provide the artwork for this picture-book presentation of the beloved Christmas carol, Away in a Manger. The illustrations, which look to be done in oil paint, alternate between what looks like a (highly idealized) Victorian English country village, and the ancient Holy Land, where the Nativity Story occurs...

After perusing and enjoying the picture-book presentation of this carol done by Mike Jaroszko in 2008, I picked up the show more Kinkade version, done in 2005, with some interest. I was familiar with Kinkade previously - he apparently trademarked the moniker "The Painter of Light" - but mostly associated his work with greeting cards, and with the paintings sold at his stores in various shopping malls here in the states. I was not aware that he (or his studio) did picture-books, until searching for versions of this carol. I'm glad I tracked it down - Christmas carol picture-books are a pet project of mine - but unfortunately, I didn't find the book itself very appealing. The artwork sometimes looked garish, with the over-use of whites and yellows to create the impression of light. The Victorian (I think?) scenes felt somehow fake, and I didn't care for the blurriness of the paintings, which prevents the reader from appreciating any little detail. I know Kinkade has his fans, but I infinitely preferred the version done by Jaroszko, and recommend it, rather than this, to those seeking picture-book presentations of Away in a Manger. show less