Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Lighthouse Family: The Eagle
Illustrator: Preston McDaniels
Fiction Series
For ages 7 to 10
Simon and Schuster, 2004 ISBN: 978-0689862434
Seabold, Pandora and the mice children are getting ready for the fall. The days are getting chillier and Seabold now spends much more time taking care of and watching the light, for now fogs can spring up and the clear balmy days of summer are over. Whistler and Lila, the two eldest mice children are beginning to hanker for an expedition into the forest but Pandora has told them not to venture there because she fears that they will be lost.
Whistler is not the kind of mouse to give up on an idea easily and one morning he asks Pandora and Seabold about going into the forest. The two ?grownups? decide that what the little mice need is a tool so that they don?t get lost. Seabold soon has the mice well trained in the use of his old compass and it is not long before they are setting out.
The forest is a magical place for the two mice children and they have a wonderful time exploring. At least they do until it is time to start heading back for the lighthouse. There are tarts for lunch and they are eager to get back. Whistler discovers, to his dismay, that the compass is no longer in his pocket, he has lost the precious thing and now the mice have to find their way home using their "instinct."
As it happens their instincts work very well. Added to this is the help they receive from a wonderful eagle who soon becomes a fast friend and who is mighty partial to fruit tarts.
Charming and heartwarming, this book with is soft two-tone artwork and its simple little story is a pleasure to read. It would make a perfect bedtime story.
