Sue Stainton

Ah story written about the time when lighthouses were lit with candles, a lighthouse keeper makes friends with a cat who later manages to save a ship from crashing when the candles burn out.

The story reads like folklore and it easy to imagine as something that would be part of a small town's history. The illustrations are full page and framed alongside the story, which has more words than an average picture book. Mackerel the cat investigating the beach and peeking out from the drawings feels very much "cat." It's a lovely book just to flip through even without reading.

The lighthouse is inspired be Smeaton's Tower in Southwest England, and there is short information page in the back of the book.… (more)

The first thing I noticed while reading this book was the blue sea borders around the pages and illustrations. It makes the illustrations look like photographs; they look so clean and simple. I enjoyed this story and how these smart cats came together to save the day. I feel like this book would be a great book to read aloud to kids because it has some repetitive words and the image and the page of Mackerel "screaming" to the other cats in the town and towns nearby is just such a fantastic page I think children would enjoy. I will definitely have this book in my library!… (more)