FIREBOY to the Rescue

Fireboy to the Rescue

By Edward Miller

Holiday House, 2010

ISBN #9780823422227

Ages 3-8

Nonfiction picture book

"I'm Fireboy, and I'm here to defend you from all things that could burn. A dangerous and scary fire can break out anyplace, anytime. I'm on the lookout to keep you, your family, and your neighborhood safe from harm!"

The cartoony character Fireboy, an angular hero in bright red, narrates a story of safety rules for dealing with and preventing fires. The word bubbles lend it a graphic novel feel with great reading ease. Exciting pictures illustrate the points of safety and add visual emphasis to what the kids should do. Batman style sounds punctuate the book and make the energetic feel even stronger.

The bright colors are appealing and the writing is straightforward and simple enough for young children to understand, while at the same time appealing to the older ones as they reinforce fire safety.

I wasn't sure I'd like the book when I picked it up, but it's turned out to be a wonderful, fun book. It was one of the Cybils nominees I strongly considered and I think kids as well as parents and teachers will love it as much as I did. It would work well for a fire safety unit, fire prevention week, or simply as a fun read about interesting things.

Activity

Create your own safety cartoon character. Write a comic book panel of 4-8 sections to illustrate another safety rule. You might want to consider electrical safety, water safety, automobile safety, or any other thing you can use to illustrate safety procedures.

 School classes may want to add fire drills in an additional panel for a simple activity.

I should have known I'd like this book—he also wrote and illustrated The Tooth Book, one I loved  and wrote about from last year. Here's the post on it.

 National Science Standard: personal health

Book provided by publisher for Cybils committee.