Customer Reviews

Fire Night!

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Every week, I read aloud to third and fourth graders at Hoover Elementary School in Indio, CA. I volunteer for this as part of the Rolling Reader program which gives free books to students IF a volunteer will commit himself or herself to consistent reading. I will do anything to give children an incentive to read, for I firmly believe that the future of our USA depends on what we, as a society, do in the present. While there are many wonderful children's books to read, there are also many bad ones. I have lamented the fact that too many of the book writers try to get on the level of the kids by lowering the standards. In essence, the kids have slang and bad habits fortified by many writers. This is similar to the fad today that people should be friends to their kids instead of parents. We can see the results of this tunnel vision in so many kids not really being well educated. And so it was with delight that I discovered "Fire Night" and other children's books written by Monica Driscoll Beatty and beautifully illustrated by Christie Allan-Piper. Mrs. Beatty obviously believes, as I do, that children need to be taught and have their interest for learning accelerated. In Fire Night, children are entertained by a very human interest story to which they can relate -- children alone in a home when it catches fire. Mrs. Beatty has discovered that many children are frightened by firefighters because of their alien-like uniforms and masks. Often the children run and hide instead of letting the firefighter rescue them. By creating an exciting story about 12 year-old Katy Wong and her younger brothers and sisters, she keeps the readers (or listeners, if an adult is doing the reading) captivated by the minute-to-minute description of one fearful night. Every member of the third and fourth graders (32 in all) paid close attention as I read this marvelous book to them. I even asked questions as I read and the answers came tumbling out from the youngsters. There is no slang in the book and no bad grammar as is often used in too many other books. In addition to the story, there is a full page of fire facts --what to do before a fire starts and what to do during a fire. The youngsters even get beautiful pictures, along with descriptions of the firefighters' equipment. Finally as a lagniappe, the children learn that under one of the scary uniforms of a firefighter who comes crawling through a second-story window to rescue them is a young Black woman, thus proving that heroes come in both genders and all races. I recommend this book as a must for all homes with children. And while you are ordering one, why not get two extra ones for your local school or library.