More than just showcasing letters, this alphabet text introduces a blend of traditional firefighting terms and lesser known and more advanced elements like intersection control devices. Each element introduced, whether traditional or offbeat, syncs up with a representative letter and features a few short but information packed sentences geared to spark reader curiosity and prompt future exploration of the topic. The alphabet is traditionally ordered throughout, with each letter clearly featured in each page’s top left corner. Bold full-page primary color illustrations bring realistic details to various fire equipment, personnel and scenes. Heavy topics, such as the “jaws of life” and the reality of firefighting, are not overwhelming, in part due to the inclusion of a frisky Dalmatian that is partially hidden on each page. Informative and intriguing. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 1-58980-420-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Soft colors and small, rounded figures in Narahashi’s paintings add extra appeal to this alphabetic horsey ride. Leaping atop her rocking horse, Amos, a young daydreamer crosses a “bumpity bridge” with a “clippety clop,” gallops through fields, up and down a hill, and back to the “extra dry” barn as sunny skies give way to rain clouds. The partly rhymed text, with featured uppercase and lowercase letters in boldface, creates an evocative rhythm to underscore the playful pretend outing. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 4, 1999
ISBN: 0-374-30001-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
Garne’s idyll by the sea makes a sensible, though backhanded point on the dignity of work and of stepping lightly upon the earth. In a sleepy rhyming text, readers fly on the wings of a parrot to a secluded Caribbean beach. There lives a fisherman, who spends his days in a humble, productive fashion; he is up long before dawn to fish, schedules a midday snooze under the palms, takes care of chores, and enjoys the dulcet companionship of a cat and a parrot. It is all so peaceful and tuned to the music of the spheres that it comes as a jolt when Garne states flatly: “Some think the old man/Is a poor simple fool—/No power, no money/No people to rule.” Few children think that way (the hard-working peasants of fairy tales tend to be the happy ones) so they’ll accept the conclusion, that the fisherman is content. It’s a point that can be inferred from most lines of text, especially the early ones, as well as from every painting. In vivid colors, Lohstoeter’s artwork captures the best qualities of both the Caribbean seascapes and the old-soul image of the man in his shanty on a strand out of time. (Picture book. 4-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201780-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
