The Log House by the Lake

When a lawsuit costs the Ashtons their wealth, the children answer their father’s news with plans for work. Gardening, carpentry, cooking and keeping house become ways to support a family facing changed circumstances. Mr Philip Ashton proposes a move to Canada, and the preparations lead to an Atlantic crossing filled with the younger children’s expectations of outdoor life. Their cheerful confidence gives this children’s adventure its starting point, while the practical demands ahead put that confidence to the test.

Later, Philip, Harry and Charley must rebuild a shelter from poles and boughs, cook their fish and keep watch after an encounter with a bear. Snow gives way to rain, making the weather another source of uncertainty. William Henry Giles Kingston combines these scenes of resourcefulness with prayer and responsibility towards the family. The book offers readers of older children’s fiction a picture of settler ambitions, household cooperation and the difference between imagining life in the woods and coping with its daily demands.