Oliver goes to Stephens Island Lighthouse by Grant Sheehan, illus. Rosalind Clark.

Oliver goes to Stephens Island Lighthouse by Grant Sheehan, illus. Rosalind Clark. Pub. Phantom House, 2019.

This is the third information picture book by this author and illustrator telling of New Zealand’s rich history of lighthouses and lighthouse keepers.

Oliver is a lucky boy. His father is a writer and his mother a photographer and they take him by helicopter to Stephens island off the coast of Marlborough in Cook Strait.

There he learns over a couple of days about the lighthouse that is now being mechanised like most lighthouses in New Zealand and around the World. He learns about the tuatara that inhabit the island and of a rare wren that was hunted to extinction by cats owned by various lighthouse keepers.

The illustrations show information as it is now and from the past and the story is quite an adventure. A classy piece of work for primary and intermediate readers.