Letters from the Lighthouse: 'THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION' Guardian

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I enjoyed this book very much. I particularly liked the character Sukie and I like the part where the bomb goes off while they are at the cinema. I thought the history was so realistic and it's made me want to find out more about the history and that time period in particular.

text are Mrs. Ramsey’s reply to a question James has apparently asked about going to the Lighthouse the next day. She assures him he’ll get to go as long as the weather... What a great little book. Carroll captures the reader's interest right from the beginning and maintains it throughout the book. There are plenty of 'sub' storylines that run throughout the book, creating questions as you read. Why is Esther how she is? Who is Mrs Arby? Why is Queenie the way she is? Why are we not allowed to find out what is in Ephraim's cupboards or the top floor, and finally the big question- Where is Sukie and what does the note mean? Carroll takes the readers on an emotional 'treasure hunt', encouraging us to empathise with Olive as well as gaining an understanding of what it might have been like to live as an evacuee during the war. I couldn't put the book down, and I think it would be an excellent read for upper KS2 children. I adored how the chapter names had relevance to the war. Although it is fiction, the book contains a lot of historical contexts and this could be a powerful teaching tool to use across the curriculum. I would have gobbled this WWII story up in one greedy reading session as a young girl. Drama, suspense and lots of action where the kids have to solve stuff themselves.When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily as if they tip-toed into the world when we were all looking the other way. This guided reading activity aimed at Year 5 | Year 6 focuses on chapter 1 of the book Letters from the Lighthouse and is linked to using colons. The historical information I have learnt from this book is that Jews were not given permission to evacuate to any country. Only some countries gave permission.

February, 1941. After months of bombing raids in London, twelve-year-old Olive Bradshaw and her little brother Cliff are evacuated to the Devon coast. The only person with two spare beds is Mr Ephraim, the local lighthouse keeper. But he's not used to company and he certainly doesn't want any evacuees. Desperate to be helpful, Olive becomes his post-girl, carrying secret messages (as she likes to think of the letters) to the villagers. But Olive has a secret of her own. Her older sister Sukie went missing in an air raid, and she's desperate to discover what happened to her. And then she finds a strange coded note which seems to link Sukie to Devon, and to something dark and impossibly dangerous. About This Edition ISBN: A truly brilliant story of courage and resilience and exceptional animals. This wartime ‘Incredible journey’ (only far, far better) is definitely Phil Earle’s best yet' Emma Carroll

image of “that loneliness” which they both believe resides at the heart of everything. Approaching the Lighthouse , James is pleased to feel that it somehow rebukes the optimistic pleasantries of old... Still in the scene on which the book opened, Mr. Tansley repeats: “No going to the Lighthouse , James,” and though he inwardly attempts to make his voice sound nice “in deference... Minta. Finishing the story, she watches James and sees he is about to ask about the Lighthouse when taken to bed by Mildred. Mrs. Ramsay thinks he will remember the disappointment of... In the midst of World War Two, a bombing in London becomes the explosive catalyst that sees two sisters separated. Along with her younger brother, Cliff, Olive is evacuated to the Devonshire town of Budmouth Point with no answer as to what happened to her older sister. Yet amongst this close-knit community, she discovers a mystery which ties Sukie to a plot as dangerous as it is mysterious. In Letters from the Lighthouse, Carroll not only captures the past with an engaging and affecting narrative but shows herself to be a leading historical novelist for children. Animation director: Stefan Wernik. Technical director: Matt Ebb. Animators: Jeremy Davidson, Lee Salvemini.

Lovereading4kids are big fans of Emma’s books. Her stories continue to delight and move me, and Letters from the Lighthouse does not disappoint at all. The story is set in WW2, February 1941, about a young girl named Olive and her brother(Cliff) whose big sister gets lost and are evacuated to Devonshire to live in a light house on Devon's edge with a mysterious lighthouse keeper. There, Olive has to solve a mystery of her own: a strange coded letter holding very important information which seems to link her sister (Sukie) with Devon and to something important and impossibly dangerous. Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home > As the sailboat pulls up to the Lighthouse , James and Cam watch Mr. Ramsay all ready to leap off the boat and...Discuss the feelings relived for the grandfather as he read the letters. The letters could be notes he kept for himself or letters from fallen allies. The book is based on a family whose father a pilot was losted in the fighting. We meet three siblings during an air raid in London and follow Olive and her brother Cliff on the hunt for the truth to their sister going missing. It's really good and definitely should be recommended for school book corners. Really interesting for people who like history and mystery. Once you get into it you can't stop reading. My favourite part was when she helped the boat in from France. And finding out more about how Cliff and Olive's father had died peacefully in the chair it was very interesting to know what had led up to that… he'd had a headache and then he'd died. Set during WWII, we follow Olive and Cliff as they’re evacuated to the coast of Devon after months of heavy air raids across London. A coded note links the disappearance of their sister Sukie to Devon, and Olive is determined to unravel the mystery. My Comments Emma Carroll clearly put a lot of research into writing Letters from the Lighthouse. It lends itself very well to teaching a WWII topic to a class, as the prolific use of wartime terminology and speech does a fantastic job of educating the reader on specific aspects of the war. I read through the book beforehand and then timed my teaching to coincide with the book so that my children were able to better visualise what I was teaching them. Class Comments

Louie is a feisty heroine, loyal to her friends and determined to succeed in this engaging historical adventure. This is a fantastic comprehension resource linked to chapter 19 of Letters from the Lighthouse and breaks down different types of questions from the categories: vocabulary, retrieval, inference and comparisons.There’s so many great Children’s historical fiction available at the minute and Carroll continues that trend. A beautifully written story about bravery, compassion, understanding, and having the strength to fight for what you believe in. ~ Shelley Fallows It’s 1941 and the Second World War rages on longer than anyone anticipated. Reeling from the death of their father and the disappearance of their sister Sukie, Olive and her brother are evacuated to the coast of Devon. After discovering a strangely coded message that she’s certain has something to do with Sukie’s disappearance, Olive embarks on a dangerous adventure as she’s determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. Emma Carroll has a wonderful takent for bringing historic events to life for today’s young readers and with Letters from the Lighthouse continues to create an enthralling, thrilling read, whilst introducing situations and characters that are still relevant in our world today. In this book, there were not a lot of illustrations but the ones there were, were thorough and detailed to help visualise the story.