I used to read this as a bedtime story with my dad when I was very young, around 2002-2007 (I am a teenager). It was an old-fashioned children's book.It was a picture book about a little girl.It had illustrations with very minimal color, mainly black and white with occasional primary colors, in a sketchy style. Overall the tone was pretty sullen, particularly when the girl wasn't playing make-believe.Her mother was dead, and her father was a single parent.They did not live in a lighthouse, but they must have lived near the sea because she and her friend do visit a lighthouse.She was an only child, but she had a friend who was a quirky young boy. She and her friend get stuck at the lighthouse in a storm.The little girl had a wild and overactive imagination, which her father would poke fun of and encourage her to get her head out of the clouds. He always said it would get her into trouble.She spent a lot of her time playing make-believe, especially because she's alone much of the time. Her wild imagination is what causes her and her friend to be put in danger (i.e. stuck at the lighthouse in the storm). They were going there to explore and play a game.Her father worked at the docks and was away much of the time. At one point in the book, he brings her a little kangaroo rat he found, although they only call it 'a little creature' or something of the sort.She may have had a pet black cat, who I could swear was called Sebastian, although I may be confusing this with a different book.The main conflict of the book is a huge storm hitting the lighthouse.Her young friend may have been implied to be imaginary.
Samantha (known as Sam) is a fisherman's daughter who dreams rich and lovely dreams--moonshine, her father says. But when her tall stories bring disaster to her friend Thomas and her cat Bangs, Sam learns to distinguish between moonshine and reality.Sam, Bangs & Moonshine is the winner of the 1967 Caldecott Medal. Samantha (known as Sam) is a fisherman's daughter who dreams rich and lovely dreams--moonshine, her father says. But when her tall stories bring disaster to her friend Thomas and her cat Bangs, Sam learns to distinguish between moonshine and reality.Sam, Bangs & Moonshine is the winner of the 1967 Caldecott Medal. ...more