Product Description

As they wait for the arrival of a new baby, Maita tells her great-grandniece the story of her remarkable childhood. Living sheltered on a lighthouse island with only her parents for company, Maita always longed for a sibling-longed not to be the only child the ragged island knew. And then one icy night, howling winds blew wave after wave against the shore, and from that fearsome storm came a sea chest-a gift that would change Maita's life forever.

From a beguiling Maine legend, newcomer Toni Buzzeo has fashioned this exquisitely lyrical, intimate tale, illustrated in vibrant oil paintings by Mary GrandPré. Together they have created a book of classic beauty and resonance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110464 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
While waiting for a "stranger," a girl snuggles with her great-great-aunt, looking at a photo of a small child "touched so often with hope, the edges curl." This intriguing beginning launches a touching story-within-a-story. Auntie Maita describes her loneliness as the only child of a Maine lighthouse keeper. One morning, after a fierce storm, Maita and her father find a sea chest wrapped in mattresses. Inside, they find a baby and this sorrowful note: "We commit this child into the hands of God. May He save her." Basing her plot on a local legend, Buzzeo, a Maine school librarian making her picture book debut, writes with such vivid, sensory-rich language that readers are almost certain to feel Maita's yearning for companionship and, later, her joy at having a sister. GrandPr 's (illustrator of the Harry Potter books) oil paintings, too, communicate the characters' shifting moods. During the storm, Mama and Maita peer through the window at Papa as he lurches against the wind toward the lighthouse. In a shadowy, sea-like, blue-green room, their candlelit faces exude a deep but stoically controlled fear. Back in the present, the girl looks expectantly at the quilt-lined sea chest, which "waits open on the table, for the tiny stranger my mama and papa have gone to fetch from so far across the wide Atlantic. To be my sister." Poignant, poetic and movingly illustrated, this story resonates with sisterly love. Ages 5-up. (Aug.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-Aunt Maita tells her great-grandniece about her wonderful but lonely young years as the only child of a lighthouse keeper and his wife on a rocky Maine island. The text is poetic, describing the change in seasons in this remote setting. Then comes a terrible storm that frightens the family and bodes disaster for any ship at sea. The following day, Maita and her father find a bundled mattress, obviously washed ashore from a sunken ship. Unfolding it, they discover a leather sea chest with a baby inside, accompanied by a note from her despairing parents. The family adopts the child and they raise her as their own. Together Maita and Seaborne spend their days together-first on the island and later on the mainland where they live close by. At the end, readers learn that Aunt Maita, now an old woman, is telling the story to her niece as the child is waiting for her own adopted sister to arrive from overseas. GrandPr‚'s oil paintings create the dramatic effects of the story. From the muted sunrise on the endpapers to the sunset on the back cover, this lovely book has an intimacy that is enhanced by reading it aloud. The combination of exquisite language and enchanting illustrations makes this a unique and outstanding book.
Barbara Buckley, Rockville Centre Public Library, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Stunning
Oh! That moment when the girl is watching her father open the sea chest, hoping for a kitten...and the reader turns the page...It's a heart-stopper. The language is rich and lyrical. The story is irrestible. I was entranced from beginning to end.

Lyrical and Moving
Toni Buzzeo takes us on a magical trip back through time to the days when the vigilance and skill of the lighthouse keeper were the only things between a storm tossed ship and catastrophe. But then, there were some storms so fearsome that even the lights were of no help. Auntie Maita's reminiscences of her solitary childhhod on fictional Sanctuary Island are lyrical and moving. She tells the story of one storm and the sea chest that washed up on shore in its aftermath. The connection between the contents of the chest and the event that awaits Auntie Maita and her grand niece eighty years later is one that will leave you in tears as you gently close the cover of the book.

Touching
The Sea Chest is an incredibly touching story that children and adults alike will love to read. The descriptive language is a wonderful example for young writers. As a Literacy Specialist in Maine, I have read it to several 4th grade classrooms and you could hear a pin drop! They were fascinated by the story and the art work. Keep up the fantastic work, Toni!