Out and About at the Fire Station

Out and About at the Fire Station
Written by Muriel L. DuBois
Illustrated by Anne McMullen

Age: 3-5 years; 5-7 years

Simple and engaging book about fire safety. Abby (15 months) liked pulling this one off the shelf to "read" on her own.

Fire Truck

Fire Truck
By Peter Sis

Age: 0-2 years; 3-5 years

This book, like Sis's Trucks! Trucks! Trucks!, is fun and imaginative. Perfect for any child who easily gets lost in his/her imaginary world.

Emergency!

Emergency!
By Gail Gibbons

Age: 3-5 years; 5-7 years

As always, Gail Gibbons does a great job in this book about emergency vehicles. This one was less wordy than some of her other books but just as informative. When Joshua first saw this book tucked away on the shelf in his preschool classroom he shouted out "That's the book we have at home!". Doesn't it feel good when you're one teeny, tiny step ahead of the preschool pro's. :)

The Firehouse Light

The Firehouse Light
Written by Janet Nolan
Illustrated by Marie Lafrance

Age: 5-7 years; 7-10 years

Again, I'm recommending a slightly older audience for this book, but both Joshua (4 years old) and Hannah (3 years old) enjoyed reading this book. If you have a kiddo with a short attention span, maybe wait a bit before checking this one out.

This is based on a true story of a light bulb that has been burning in a California firehouse for over 100 years. I like the historical aspect as the author tells the story of time passing as the little light bulb keeps burning. You can learn more about the Centennial Bulb and even see footage of their live webcam by visiting their website.

Fire! Fire!

Fire! Fire!
By Gail Gibbons

Age: 5-7 years; 7-10 years

I'm recommending this for elementary school ages and not preschoolers because it is wordy. That said, we've checked it out two or three times since Joshua was 3 years old, and he's only 4 now. For younger kids, I ask them to pick one section - there are sections about fires in the city, country, forest, and water - and then I skip over some information if I start to lose their attention.

All of that said, this book is just as good as you would expect from Gail Gibbons. Packed with information, simple but detailed illustrations, and an exciting topic, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in fire trucks. I liked that this one discusses lesser-known fire emergency vehicles such as helicopters and fire boats. I'm sure we'll be getting this one many more times before the kids outgrow the children's room at the local library.

Firetrucks

Firetrucks
By Peter Brady

Age: 3-5 years; 5-7 years

It's always fun to check out non-fiction books about trucks! This one was informative, simple, and had real-life photographs.

Note: We did not read this in Spanish, although it would have been a fun exercise to try. I could only find a photo of the Spanish edition.

F is for Fire Truck

I had intended to follow the original Read to Me & ABC suggestion for the letter "F". Joshua's preschool class, however, had a fire truck visit just a couple of days before our library trip. Hannah and Abby were invited to tag along - with Mom, of course - and the result was great inspiration to check out books about fire trucks. So, here we have F is for Fire Truck. It was a fun unit - one that I will most definitely repeat. Because fire trucks are such a hot topic for children, our library was full of books. We really struggled not to check out every book on the non-fiction shelf and just when we thought we finished, we found an entire section a few aisles down.

Above is a picture of our letter craft. The kids wanted to cut out their own letters, which turned out to be a great scissors practice activity. They enjoyed gluing the craft stick ladders and, as you can see, they even added their own "flare" to the trucks. :)