The Lighthouse Keeper's Picnic

The Lighthouse Keeper

by Ronda Armitage, David Armitage (Illustrator)

Mrs Grinling is the best cook in the whole world. But when she puts on a delicious spread for the village picnic, Mr Grinling wishes he hadn't eaten so much.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1994

About the author

Ronda Armitage is the author of many children’s books, including the Lighthouse Keeper series.
She attended University of Auckland, 1963, 1969, and Massey University, 1965; Hamilton Teacher's College, certificate of teaching, 1963, diploma of teaching, 1969.
She lives in England with her husband, illustrator, David. They have two children.

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suitable for Key Stage Two, this book has more text so would be better for shared or guided reading rather than a class story as children would struggle to follow the text unless they had their own copies. There is dialogue in speech bubbles. It could also be used to discuss the impirtance of healthy eating and exercise.

[Redway Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Picnic’ is a tale about something we can all relate to – the temptation of food (and not the healthy stuff). Mr Grinling, the lighthouse keeper, carries a few extra pounds and after an embarrassment at the village picnic his wife is determined to help him lose weight.

This is a modern classic and part of a best-selling series of children’s picture books based around the adventures of The Lighthouse Keeper. First published in 1993, the illustrations reflect the fashions and style of the time and I’m sure it has remained a firm favourite amongst many of my contemporaries purely from the nostalgia of reading it themselves as a child.

Read my full review:
https://redwaybooks.wordpress.com/201...

[Rebecca merchant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot rambles a bit and doesn’t really end in some ways but it reflects life well and I loved the picnic spread.

[Fatima Seraj Alam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can heavily relate to Mr Grinling (pun intended) as I am going through my own weightloss journey which is so hard because I am tempted by sweet treats just like him.

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Grnling is really mean, her husband is fat but he's so nice... the couple join a picnic and get stranded on the shore and can't get back home... it made me sad.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars for the story (the ending does teach a great moral) but the beautiful illustrations of the ocean and shore bump it up to a 4.

[Iain Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a cute story about an overweight lighthouse keeper called Mr Grinling and his wife who, although she keeps berating him about his size, still keeps cooking too much yummy food for him to eat! The story isn’t really about the lighthouse at all. The main event is the annual village picnic held across the bay from their house during which Mr Grinling once again eats too much. This, is has to be said, is once again due to Mrs Grinling who has prepared a massive sea-food feast for the whole village. The culmination of this is that the Grinlings fall asleep after the picnic. The tide comes in and their dinghy floats away. This means that they now have to walk home around the bay across lots of rocks. Mr Grinling is too fat to walk quickly enough and they are eventually cut off by the tide. They stay on the rocks overnight and look at the lighthouse. In the morning they are rescued by Sam who is the lighthouse assistant. He has realised what might have happened to them when he sees the empty dinghy floating in the bay. Act Two of the story (as I came to see it) involves Mr Grinling going on a diet and taking up lots of physical activity in order to lose weight. However, Sam still offers Mr Grinling snacks when they are in the lighthouse which he has not got the willpower to refuse. Therefore, he does not lose weight and Mrs Grinling gets angry when she finds out. The story ends with Mr Grinling seeing a hot-air balloon one day whilst out cycling and persuades his wife to take a flight with him. They float up over the lighthouse and across the bay and Mr Grinling says that this is even better than eating.

Although I enjoyed this story, I didn’t take to it as much as other books that I have read for Year 1 and 2 children. It is a ‘nice’ story but jumps from the picnic part to the second part about Mr Grinling’s quest to lose weight quite abruptly. Also, the ending in the balloon does not really tie in with the rest of the story even though the balloon is seen by Mr Grinling before. However, the story will entertain 5 and 6 year olds and I think there is definitely a message in there about the perils of overeating. This is interesting as the book was published in 1993, which is perhaps slightly before the days when overeating (and especially overeating by children) was seen as a problem.

This story could be used in a literacy lesson where the children have part of the story read to them and then have to write their own ending. The best point for this could be from when the Grinling’s dinghy floats away. It could also be used as a way to introduce the topic of eating too much or eating too much of the wrong type of food. The book is also good for individual reading activities for Year 1 and Year 2 children.