cover image Safely to Shore: The Story of America's Lighthouses

Safely to Shore: The Story of America's Lighthouses

Iris Van Rynbach, Iris Van Rynbach. Charlesbridge Publishing, $16.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-57091-434-8

For oceanside summer trips, Safely to Shore: America's Lighthouses by Iris Van Rynbach describes the history of these beacons, how they work and who once kept them. Van Rynbach looks back to the days before automation at many famous lights, from Portland, Maine, to Kilauea, Hawaii, with tales of the lonely lives of the keepers and their families, and, of course, many heroic rescues. Her pen-and-ink and watercolor wash illustrations depict not only the lighthouses themselves but the important role they provided to seaside communities.