Review: Flashing Fire Engines

Flashing Fire Engines

Written by Tony Mitton

Illustrated by Ant Parker

Publication Date:1998
Publisher: Kingfisher
ISBN: 978-0-7534-5307-0

Summary/back cover:
“Big, bold fire engines,
waiting day and night,
ready for a rescue
or a blazing fire to fight.”

Jump on the fire engine with a trio of brave animal firefighters in this exciting picture book. Zippy wordplay, zappy art, plus a helpful picture dictionary make learning about fire engines fun!

Review:
From the Amazing Machines series comes Flashing Fire Engines. My pre-schoolers are crazy about fire-trucks and absolutely LOVE this book. They soon learnt all about the helmets and masks the firefighters wear from the dictionary in the back and love to point them out as we’re reading. I even learnt a few things, myself, like how the firefighters get water out of a fire hydrant, and why they even need fire hydrants when there is water stored on the truck.

This is a great wee book that’ll be a hit with any kid who is interested in fire-trucks.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review written by team_s

Review: Fizz the Fire Engine

Fizz the Fire Engine

Written and Illustrated by David Wojtowycz

Publication date: 2003
Publisher: Orchard Books
ISBN: 1-84121-484-1


Summary/Back cover:
Emergency! A train is stuck in the tunnel . . . Fizz the fire engine wants to be a brave hero, but can he overcome his shyness to save the day? Full of noises, action and fun, this colourful first picture book is prefect for vehicle-crazy little ones.


Review:
This book immediately appealed to my two sons because of the content - a fire engine, complete with written sound effects!  It appealed to me before I'd even picked it up, due to being another Wojtowycz book - he's become a firm favourite in our household with adults and children alike.


The illustrations, it goes without saying, are just beautiful - vibrant colours, gorgeous animation of vehicles that will appeal to any child.  The storyline has a little 'moral' running through it, about how sometimes you need to overcome your shyness for the good of others.  My almost-3 year old hasn't picked up on this theme yet, as he's too busy waiting for the "Nee-nar, nee-nar, flash, flash flash!" lines in the book!


My rating: 4.5 out of 5 - definitely one to read your vehicle-mad preschool sons!


Review written by Bronwyn

Review: Cars and Trucks and Things That Go

Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
Written and Illustrated by Richard Scarry

Publication date: 2010 (originally published 1974)
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-00-735738-3

Blurb:
This children's classic is bursting with all kinds of fun vehicles from the magical world of Richard Scarry.
From tractors to trucks, sports cars to unicycles, and fire engines to mouse beach buggies, there's lots to see and talk about on every page.

Review:
Both my husband and I have fond memories of Richard Scarry books as kids and he bought this one for our son. It has been a huge hit. The story line is basic, it's not great literature but the illustrations make it one of the most read and most discussed book in our house. The first time we read it, we read the story and looked at the pictures. The next twenty times we read the book it was to find Goldbug who hides on each page. Now we are onto discussing which cars we like or want. They get assigned to family members and he loves reading the book when he wakes up in the morning as it is so visual. 

I would recommend it for 2 years and up as it may be too busy for younger children. I can see this book being a favourite for a good few years yet.


Review written by LatteJunkie

Review: Emergency!

Emergency!

Written by Margaret Mayo

Illustrated by Alex Ayliffe

Publication date: 2002
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
ISBN: 0-87614-922-0

Summary/Back cover:
Fire! Fire - emergency!
Fire engines race all the way.
Hoses rushing, water gushing,
Help is coming.  It's on the way!
Fire engines, police cars, ambulances, lifeboats, and tow trucks race to the rescue in this noisy, busy book bursting with action.  Emergency? Don't worry - help is on the way!

Review:
This is a real boys' book - my 2.5 year old loves it, what with all the rescue vehicles in it!  The fact that we get to yell 'Emergency!' on each page helps a lot, too!  As with other Mayo/Ayliffe books (such as Dig Dig Digging and Snap), the text is rhyming, and the illustrations are lovely and bright.  This one is my son's favourite Mayo book so far!

Review written by Bronwyn