Caldecott Medal Contender: Hello Lighthouse

by Sam Juliano

The lighthouse is a national treasure.  Though few are now functional, their appearance is a reminder of how they once served as guardian and protector, alerting ships of rocky coastlines and dating back to antiquity signaling the entry to a port, which bereft of their guidance would compel ships to reach their destination under the dangerous cloak of darkness.  In the modern era they have been noted to help vessels navigate reefs and to assist in aerial negotiation.  It is no wonder that this unique architectural marvel, a circular tower with an inside spiral staircase and lofty conservation deck has fascinated people from all walks of life and has been a focus in the arts.  Lighthouses have been prominent in paintings, in literature and in film and song.  The lighthouse in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island provides a rather sinister set piece while in one of English writer Virginia Woolf’s most celebrated novels, To the Lighthouse, set in Scotland,  it is the integral marker in the work’s dramatic arc.  A plethora of historic lighthouses dot the globe, and a fair representation are in the United States.  The resplendent mahogany red Ponce de Leon lighthouse in Florida is quite the site to behold, the Boston Light beacon on the coast of Brewer Island in the Boston Harbor in the oldest in the nation and the famous blue and white-striped Cape Hatteras lighthouse at the outermost point on the North Carolina cape is the tallest brick structure in the US.  Lighthouses have always ranked among the most featured subjects on postage stamps.  Perhaps the most popular of these is the 29 cent Sandy Hook, New Jersey Lighthouse stamp in the Americana series releases by the postal service in April of 1978.  A sublime drawing of the lighthouse in dark blue on a light blue base and the two side “Lonely Beacon Protecting Those Upon the Sea” curving around the left side and bottom border made is a big favorite of collectors and lighthouse fans.

The most identifiable of all children’s books featuring this erstwhile water’s edge custodian is surely Hildegarde Swift and Lynd Ward’s beloved humanist classic The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge, which employs impressionist red and blue in a pictorially visceral presentation of the life-saving propensities of this indomitable stone formation, which still stands in real life under the George Washington Bridge connecting Manhattan with Fort Lee, New Jersey.  The Caldecott Medal-winning author-illustrator Sophie Blackall responded to a question at New York City’s Books of Wonder after a book presentation on her magnificent Hello Lighthouse that she is a long time admirer of the legendary Swift-Ward collaboration.  The blue-red spine of what is now officially the most distinguished picture book about a lighthouse in the history of American children’s literature seems to be a modest homage to the earlier book, though Blackall’s intricate compositions exhibit deeper textures and nuances while maintaining the sweeping power and atmospheric turbulence and tranquil serenity that are lucidly delineated in The Little Red Lighthouse.  Blackall, an Australian-born artist now residing in Brooklyn is one of the industry’s most talented, and her 2018 Caldecott contender could well be her pictorial masterpiece in a career that includes the art in Finding Winnie (Caldecott winner written by Lindsay Mattick) and A Fine Dessert (authored by Emily Jenkins).

The lighthouse-attuned vertical font size ushers in this inordinately beautiful work, one that sports one of the year’s most exquisite covers, extending to the dust jacket which depicts a benign daytime scene of a handsome red and white lighthouse sitting atop rocks in a tame aquamarine watery expanse.  After the reader peels away this eye-filling wonder a nocturnal transcription reveals the tide is now in and the formerly immobile guard on the topmost perch is now following the rays of light with a telescope, keeping watch for any ships that might be experiencing difficulty.  The back of the dust jacket features the five inside rooms of the tower, which are vertically bookended by the big light at the top and some water containers at the bottom.  Daytime activities include painting at the stairway entry point and making sure the light, which could save lives in in proper order.  An observation room with a desk, a kitchen and a bedroom confirm the lighthouse isn’t just a a daily wok perch, but also a home to a family.  Interesting enough Blackall relates in a fascinating afterward that “Often families lived together in lighthouses; some had as many as eleven children” and that “hundreds of women served as lightkeepers”  The speculation of the dust cover is confirmed on the inside back cover, where a woman is seen in bed and the patriarch is holding a cup of coffee in what is more of an eating cabin than a formal kitchen suggested by the dust jacket.  Blackall later asserts that the lighthouse in the book is actually based on one she stayed at on a tiny island at the northern tip on a tiny island at the northern tip of Newfoundland and concludes with a telling point that maps can never capture the lived-in essence of a place.

The title canvas is an overhead turquoise view of the lighthouse, where a ship is riding past.  Readers may not yet grasp that this circular design is prevalent throughout the book, one that achieves a rare illustrative uniformity.  On the first double page canvas Blackall sets up the dynamic compellingly, stating that this beach-head fixture “is built to last forever.”  The dusk-to-dawn greeting is the simplest known to man but Hello! Hello! Hello! is precisely the choral directness one might attach to a beam of light.  Blackall introduces the new lightkeeper who immediately proceeds to polishes the lenses, refill the oil and wind the clockwork, the latter essential to keep the lamp in motion.  This jack-of-all-trades handyman is seen in an opening vignette (circular as ever) climbing the inside staircase as his escort ship heads away and later at night he is seen with his logbook and threading needle after he paints the rooms green.

The book’s drama is scene-specific and Hello Lighthouse is an unmasked “life cycle” book.  Initially this new caretaker “drinks his tea” and “fishes for cod from his window”, hums to himself and sends love letters to his wife in bottles doomed to wavy oblivion, though his wife does arrive on another boat in a joyful reunion scene, followed by a tour of this most unusual of habitats.  Fog intrudes and Blackall’s visual evocation is an gem, one that may evoke two masterful earlier works, Fog Island by Tomi Ungerer and the Caldecott Honor winning Hide and Seek Fog by Alvin Tresselt and Roger Duvoisin.  The atmospheric obstruction leads inevitably to a boat crash on the rocks, but the keeper acts swiftly, rescuing three men who are tended by his wife.  The disaster is depicted superbly in the China ink and watercolor on arches paper prowess by Blackall, who adds the recovery insert.  Like most geographic regions winter will bring snow and ice, and the beauty the artist offers is a white expanse only intruded by a few seals.  But the lighthouse has lost none of its vigor in yet another frame-worthy Blackall tapestry.  After the harrowing episode it is the keeper’s turn to stricken.  Stressing the urgency Blackall depicts the stricken husband in overhead and accentuates the frenzied drama by showing the wife charges down the spiral staircase.

Blackall aficionados will surely be tempted to include the circular illustration depicted the wife’s pre-delivery labor as one of her finest.  The stages are shown with husband now doing his part in this loving relationship, with the water metaphor a superlative artistic choice.  The husband notes the birth of their first child in a canvas dominated by the circular shaped miniature chance stand wheel design, which extends to the floor rug.  The author could well be making a statement about the great risk connected with light-keeping, one that will always include “chances.”  A light explosion denoted by the artist in greenish terms and one observed in an upper window by the lighthouse tenants could well be a northern lights showcase.  A ship arrives, bringing food, books and a letter which notifies them that a brand new light with the machine that will run it makes their jobs as lightkeepers obsolete.  A final look at the uniformed father holding his logbook for the final time is bittersweet as they big farewell to their home and the circling seagulls.  A stunning triptych fold out depicts the pinkish dusk of the day as emblematic of the forced resignation and is followed by the melancholic portrait of the family at the door, though they still will have a view of their former home across the bay, and they’ll forever be connected via the chance-wheel rug, photos and the bottled letters, which after all did arrive.  Blackall again stresses red for familial warmth and love of family.

Hello Lighthouse is a splendidly written and polished work, exhibiting art of astounding preciseness and beauty.  As always Blackall, who is well-known as one of the sweetest professionals out there has again delivered with exceeding grasp of her subject, the emotional intricacies intertwined with her compositions and a mastery of research and the lived-in experience.  At the Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott this week book lovers voted her in for one of the medals and the committee may find this exemplary craftsmanship and stirring story set in the most alluring of places way to difficult to ignore.  Hello Lighthouse is a masterpiece.

Note:  This is the twenty-fourth entry in the  2018 Caldecott Medal Contender series. The annual venture does not purport to predict what the committee will choose, rather it attempts to gauge what the writer feels should be in the running.  In most instances the books that are featured in the series have been touted as contenders in various online round-ups, but for the ones that are not, the inclusions are a humble plea to the committee for consideration.  It is anticipated the series will include in the neighborhood of around 25 titles; the order which they are being presented in is arbitrary, as every book in this series is a contender.  Some of my top favorites of the lot will be done near the end. The awards will be announced in late January, hence the reviews will continue until around the middle of that month.

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