Customer Reviews

A Fire Engine for Ruthie

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This is a cute picture book about a little girl named Ruthie. She is visiting her Nana and her Nana has lots of things planed from them to do together like play with dolls and have tea parties. Ruthie does these things with her Nana but she doesn't like them very much. Ruthie likes to play with toys like trucks, cars, and trains. She see a little neighbor boy playing with thes things and she tells her Nana she wants to play with him. Nana lets her visit and once Nana sees how much fun Ruthie is having she joins them as well!


I liked that the book showed it's ok for girls to like to same toys as boys and for boys to enjoy things that girls like as well.

I would recommend this book to others. Girls who enjoy playing with "boy toys" will relate to Ruthie well.

When curly-headed Ruthie's visits her grandma, "Nana" doesn't seem to have a clue about her granddaughter. She doesn't understand that Ruthie loves the fire engines and trains and motorcycles with which young Brian plays, even though she asks Nana if she has those three days in a row. Nana has a good heart; she simply doesn't own them. Instead, Nana suggests that they paint flowers, have a tea party, and throw a fashion show. Ruthie, however, just agrees to these activities, "even though she really doesn't like" them.

Nana fails to notice that Ruthie always inserts Brian's more exciting toys into the pretend play and painting that she and Ruthie do together: A motorcycle appears in Ruthie's daisy picture, and she pretends to smell fire. Nana appears oblivious to Ruthie's interests, and Ruthie's imagination has not yet developed enough to play without real-looking toys. For example, Ruthie makes a pretend fire truck from a box, but she loses interest because it "has no black-and-white dog sitting up front," and "no silver ladder that slides up and down and no yellow hose to unwind." The two are so out of touch that the book's funniest line occurs on day four, when Nana once again asks Ruthie, "What would you like to do today?"

"Ruthie tells Nana, 'I want to play with Brian.'" This comes as no surprise to the reader.

To make a long story short (and, unfortunately, the book does seem longer than its 32 pages), Nana finally understands Ruthie's need for more exciting, action-oriented toys and play when they visit Brian. Nana becomes involved with the kids, and even "buys a fire engine for Ruthie, a train for herself, and two motorcycles to share." The book's colorful pictures--especially one of Nana all dressed up in a feather boa and a floppy orange hat--maintain interest, even though Nana sometimes looks like a teenager. In fact, Nana neither looks nor acts much differently from a parent who doesn't know his or her own child. Real generational and gender themes are portrayed so subtly that the book sometimes lacks warmth and a feeling of authenticity. The book could be useful for instructional and counseling purposes, and it might be fun for grandparents to read with their extended family.