The Little Fire Truck (Little Vehicles #3)

PreS—In this delightful story, a fire truck takes readers on its work adventures. "I'm a little fire truck, /my driver's name is Jill./We zip all over town/ my siren's loud and shrill." Bright colorful digital illustrations, often in fire engine red, capture the right tone. The text clearly conveys the positive message that firefighters help people. Another strength of this title is the vocabulary. The text is easy to understand and may expose listeners to new words; the illustrations will give children clues on what those words mean. "Holding pikes and axes, they crawl along the floor." In the accompanying image, there are three firefighters in uniform crawling on the ground with those tools. The front and back endpapers have cute pictures showing tools of the trade. They include a pike pole, nozzle, and pumper truck to name a few. This is a popular subject among preschoolers and classes, and the simple catchy text and large illustrations make this a good storytime selection. VERDICT A welcome addition to preschools and libraries for vehicle fans, community helper units, Fire Prevention Week programs, and beyond.— Robin Sofge, Prince William Public Library System, VA