Kate's Light: Kate Walker at Robbins Reef Lighthouse

McCully's loose, sweeping, yet specific illustrations combine seamlessly with Spires' clear and engaging description . . . A distinctive selection that highlights an unknown heroine and her world as a lighthouse keeper.

Spires emphasizes the hardships of this lifestyle (five-story living quarters accessible only by ladder, no electricity or indoor plumbing); its physical demands (caring for the lamps and sirens, conducting rescues via rowboat, ringing the station's bell in the fog); and the sheer isolation of living at sea. McCully's illustrations, rendered in pen, ink, and watercolor, help to bring this setting and time period to life for younger readers. . . . Appended with further information and sources, this makes a good addition to women's history units.

Kate Walker took charge of Robbins Reef Lighthouse in the Port of New York when her husband died, toiling ceaselessly to give ships safe passage while raising her children and rowing to Staten Island for supplies. A German immigrant to the U.S. with a son, she married lighthouse keeper John Walker, who worked on the mainland until he took the post at isolated Robbins Reef. His wife balked: "Those first few weeks, Kate didn't unpack her trunks." In time, though, her doubts cleared. When their daughter was three, John died of pneumonia: "Mind the light, Kate" were his last words to her. Resisting pressure to leave the lighthouse, she won his position years later, in 1895, having served as assistant keeper during his life. Caldecott Medalist McCully's vivid ink and watercolor spreads bring to life the storms and waves that made Walker's work necessary, and brim with visual information about the lighthouse and the people who depended on it. Chapter book-style writing by Spires (The Big Meow) provides ample context and many anecdotes. An intrepid heroine in a lonely place, Walker had grit that makes for gripping reading. Ages 6-8. (Jan.)

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Spires, a poet, professor and author of several children's books, creates a memorable tribute to an indomitable woman and her remarkable life. Walker's willingness to step into the unknown is thrilling, and McCully's illustrations add drama and impact to the swashbuckling story. Heavily applied watercolors create a massive thunderstorm on the page, and carefully rendered details will help readers imagine what it's like to call an island lighthouse home. Kate's Light is an unusual true story compellingly told.—BookPage

In Spires' spirited telling, Kate Walker's professional achievement is less a tale of ambitiously upending gender expectations and more a demonstration of persistently demanding recognition of and remuneration for hard-earned skills. McCully's watercolor illustrations glide smoothly from homey interiors to roiling storms, capturing Kate hammering a massive warning bell in dense fog or chattering contentedly with friends in the sunshine. —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books