Hildegarde H. Swift (1890–1977)

If you've never heard of John Burroughs before, you won't really know what he was famous for until almost the end of the book. The first section portrays him as a young boy. (Note: author states this biography was "dramatized, not "fictionalized", believing she portrayed the truth.) He was a dreamer as a boy, but his father kept after him to do the chores on their farm. He had to work his way through high school, and spent much of his life trying to find time to do what he would enjoy. He and his wife had little in common and didn't understand or support each other. Fortunately, there were no children until late in his life. The few portions of his essays that were mentioned seemed pretty boring. He was a friend of Walt Whitman and wrote his biography. He was very observant of nature, and is known for his published nature history. Yet when he bought the property with a wetlands he considered magical, he drained the swamp to grow celery.
I picked it up for the 17 Lynd Ward illustrations, but don't really want to give shelf space to the book.… (more)

This delightful tale is about a little lighthouse who is quite proud of the job it does, warning ships away from the rocky shore. When a great grey bridge is built, with a much stronger light, the lighthouse believes it has been replaced. But the moral of the story is that there is a place for both kinds of light and both are needed. The book is filled with many wonderful illustrations which add immensely to the enjoyment of the story. Though written in 1942, it still should appeal to children today.… (more)