Little brother, where is your light?
Written: Dec 07 '00 (Updated Jan 05 '01)
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Pros: modern classic
Cons: none
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| sarahgutch's Full Review: Hildegarde Hoyt Swift - Little Red Lighthouse and ... |
While visiting the Fort Lee Historical Park in New Jersey for the first time several years ago, I ambled down one of the lovely trails, hand-in-hand with my loving husband, toward the palisades overlooking the Hudson River. Suddenly I stopped dead in my tracks and gasped.
Look! There it is!
Silence. I looked at him, and he shrugged.
The Little Red Lighthouse! Like in the book!
I couldn't get anything more out of him than a hesitant, Ummm.
There was nothing to say, no way to explain how I felt. It was as if I suddenly had a vision of a childhood friend, and I knew that for all these years, it had stood there, persistent and proud.
Fast forward to a grey and wet November 2000 as my family traveled down the Outer Banks of NC; we stopped at the visitors' centers at Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island lighthouses. Browsing through the shelves of collectibles, gifts and books, I again stopped dead in my tracks and gasped.
Look! There it is!
I picked up the book and carried it to the grinning cashier, who said, Almost everyone who buys that book has the same reaction. OK, so everyone doesn't remember this book, but for those of us who do, it is very special.
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, by Hildegarde H. Swift and Lynd Ward, stands in great company of several other classics such as Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton and A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer. Decades before Levar Burton began introducing young PBS viewers to wonderful books on Reading Rainbow, Captain Kangaroo sat and read to his own young viewers, that is, when ping pong balls weren't raining down on him.
There's good reason that The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge was not only a Captain Kangaroo book (originally written in 1942) but also a Reading Rainbow book (the current edition is Copyright 1970).
It qualifies as a classic fable (even beginning Once upon a time), set in the twentieth century. All the grand technological achievements which mark progress into the new age do not discount the value of steadfastness and watchfulness, and dignity. The gentle colored pencil illustrations depict the lighthouse, passing boats and the bridge with anthropomorphic expressions of amity, power, fear and pride, and the text is wonderfully descriptive and emotionally charged. This is a truly a memorable tale to share with your little one.
Anyone visiting New York City can see The Little Red Lighthouse (also known as Jeffrey's Hook Light) from Riverside Drive as it passes under the George Washington Bridge, or as I did from the Fort Lee Historical Park in New Jersey. If you want a closer look, find a place to park near Lafayette Plaza at W. 181st Street, find the steps to the walkway over the north-bound lanes of Riverside Drive, then follow the walkway to the tunnel under the south-bound lanes and continue down the path south towards the Great Grey Bridge (GWB). The lighthouse is currently wrapped in a tarp for protection against harsh winter elements, but is open for tours and other events, including readings of this wonderful book, during the warmer three seasons. For more information, visit http://www.lighthousemuseum.org/nylights/lred.html.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sarahgutch
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Member: Abbie Slaman
Location: NJ
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 22 members
About Me:
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding? --Nick Lowe
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