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Elliot’s Fire Truck

by Andrea Beck

Elliot Moose is a firefighter today, hurtling around the house on his bright red fire truck. All he needs is a fire to fight and a friend or two to rescue. The problem is that Socks, Paisley, and Amy all want to be firefighters too, and nobody wants to be rescued. Finally, the little twins Snowy and Puff reluctantly agree to be saved from a blaze – as long as they get to ride the fire truck afterward. However, with so many friends on the truck, it loses control and crashes, forcing Snowy and Puff to rescue the rescuers with a pile of pillows.

This lively addition to the beloved Elliot Moose series depicts Elliot and his friends in full action mode. Andrea Beck’s colourful illustrations evoke the imagined outside world, where buildings erupt in flames, while heightening the tension through the dramatic use of perspective to emphasize height and space: Paisley, climbing down from the library desk, gazes nervously at his friends far below, and the four toys clinging to the fire hose hang dizzily above the pillows in the hall beneath.

The vertical space between safety and danger parallels the emotional space of the friends’ disagreement. As always, however, cooperative efforts prevail, and the happy resolution demonstrates that even the smallest friends can be courageous, and the biggest need help sometimes, too.

 

Reviewer: Joanne Findon

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers

DETAILS

Price: $19.95

Page Count: 32 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 978-1-55469-143-2

Released: April

Issue Date: 2010-6

Categories: Children and YA Non-fiction, Picture Books

Age Range: 4-7