Lamplighter

by Bernice Thurman Hunter

A stout loghouse and a strong papa; crackly cornhusk mattresses and water fetched from a spring down the hill; crashing trees and howling storms; encounters with bears, wolves and deer; exciting trips to Toronto: all these things--and more--make for a rich and varied life for young Willie Adams in Northern Ontario in 1888. Find out what it was like to live in the country a hundred years ago.

Genres: Canada, Historical Fiction

115 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

She was born in Toronto, Ontario, on November 3, 1922 and died May 29, 2002. She married her high school sweetheart, Lloyd Hunter, and had two children, Anita and Heather, and four grandchildren, Meredith, Lisa, Hunter and Franceline. No Greats.

Bernice was the middle child of 5 children (Wilma, Gordon, Bernice, Jack and Robert). She struggled in school because they moved so often. The Booky Trilogy, set during the Great Depression, depicts her family being forced to stay ahead of the bailiff, who threw them out when her unemployed father couldn't afford the rent. (Despite the hardships of poverty, it was her nature to be happy, so the books are upbeat.) They lived in Birchcliff and Swansea. The "new house" was on Cornell Avenue and she went to Birchcliff Public School, but most of her childhood and teens were spent on Lavinia, which is why Swansea claims her for their own. She attended Runnymede Collegiate, but didn't graduate because the war started and she went to work (depicted in The Girls They Left Behind). As a new bride, she lived on Gladstone Avenue in Toronto. Her husband was transferred to Peterborough, so they moved to Millbrook when her children were young. In 1956, she and her husband bought their own home on Meldazy Drive in a beautiful new subdivision in Scarborough, when McCowan was a gravel road and north of Ellesmere was farmland. Her books accurately depict these locales in different eras. Toronto is "a character" in her books.

She was interested in writing since early childhood and would often have a captive audience of school chums lined up along the curb to listen to her stories. In her teens, she met and had the temerity to present a story to her idol, L.M. Montgomery. The famous author of Anne Of Green Gables complimented Bernice: "Your characters ring true!...You have a good imagination" – blissful words for the young author's ears, but the next bit of advice was a crushing blow to the fourteen-year-old's already faltering self-esteem. Montgomery said, "A writer must have higher education -- it is imperative that you go to University." The young hopeful went away dejected. What Ms. Montgomery could not know was that Bernice came from a very poor background and had no hope of a University Education. The fateful words stayed buried in her heart for many years. An avid reader, she was self-educated. She often read a book in one night.

She continued to write because writing was as natural to her as breathing. When her own children were small, Bernice wrote for them an ongoing story about their lives in Millbrook, Ontario with themselves as heroines. (Her first manuscript, Kimberley of Millpond, has been published 55 years later in 2010 by her daughter.) Her stories were written in longhand because Bernice didn't own a typewriter. It was not until her children were grown that she decided to try to publish. She obtained an old Underwood typewriter and tapped out a story about her first grandchild, aptly titled, "A Grandchild Can Make Life Beautiful Again". She sent it to The Toronto Star and they published it and sent her a cheque for fifty-dollars. After that she wrote and published numerous stories for children in magazines and anthologies and then went on to publish 17 novels.

Bernice's novels, especially the "Booky" trilogy, are autobiographical in nature. Her strength as a writer lies in her ability to bring her childhood memories vividly to life for her young readers. Because the setting and tone of her novels accurately capture the past, she was acknowledged by the Toronto Historical Society and her books are used in history as well as language programs in schools. She was in constant demand as a guest speaker in schools and libraries across Canada and her daughter, Heather Hunter, now goes in her stead. Heather gives a power point presentation on Bernice's life and works.

Of her school visits, Bernice once said: "My favourite part of a school visit is 'que

Reviews

[Mrs · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn’t assign this book for history. It gives little insight into the time. I love the personality of the main character but I don’t really like the book. I don’t find the papa “strong”. He seems like a bully to me. There were other things I really didn’t like, for example, why did the mother need to draw Willie’s attention to the new kittens if she was going to have her older son kill them later that day? Although I hate it, I understand why they killed kittens. But why show them to her little boy first??

[Nicole (book.quill) · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the descriptions are vivid and you feel sucked into 1888 rural Ontario, the plot is a little too non-plot for my liking. The coming of age experience of Willie is nice, and I guess normal kids don't have grand amazing adventures. It was just... less than satisfying.

Also loses points for describing drowning a kitten in a book geared towards kids around 8-10. Jut saying his brother had drowned them would suffice, we don't need the glub of their air bubbles in the water.

[Madame Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story of Willie Adams and his childhood growing up in 1888 Ontario.

[Karanjit B · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rise of the Lamplighter.
What do you want to be when you grow up? If you want to be a lamplighter this is your book. Willie wants to be a lamplighter too. Lets see how. Lamplighter by Bernice Thurman Hunter. Willie and his mother are doing to the city of Toronto. His dad and brother Artie dont want to go there. "The loghoue was pich dark when little Willie woke up."(Hunter, pg.1) the reson why I like this book is Willie the main character is a brave and honest guy. Bernice is making it a mystery, chapter by chapter so that the reader is reading on and on, it was like a mystery book. The acent of the people is funny. ex. "instead of saying you they say lad." It also had a intersesting introduction by a mystery. I will recomend this book who like adventurous and who love reading.

[Emma Berger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the atmosphere of this book. I was hoping there’d be more about the actual lamplighter “occupation” bc that sounds fascinating to me as well.

So much happened in the last quarter of the book. Dead things and almost-dead things and more gore than I expected for a children’s book. Made it interesting I guess hit I still feel like I’ve been damaged - by a children’s book. Might want to look up trigger warnings, js.

Also - quite the sexism and “be a man” energy in this book but I suppose it needs to be evaluated in the context of the times it came from and was written about.

Generally, rather fascinating. I kind of wish this book could be rewritten for adults - more atmospheric descriptions pls 💖

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extra 1/2 star.