My second fire book review this week is actually perfect for Fire Prevention Week. In fact, on the first page of Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill
Unlike the mostly-for-fun Firefighter Ted, Miss Mingo has a lot of fire safety information packed into a book that is equally as funny as the one I reviewed yesterday. In fact, this book provides the added bonus of offering up bits of animal related facts on each page. Did you know that when a hognose snake is threatened, it inflates its body to resemble a cobra? Me either!
The story revolves around Miss Mingo’s wild (animal) class. They start out talking about fire, causing a few of the animals to get excited and/or scared. Then a big firefighter bear shows up causing a pig to go running. I particularly liked this part, because it taught the animals (and the kids reading) not to be afraid of firefighters in all of their gear. The firefighter chief bear takes off his fire gear to show the students that he’s just a normal bear. It’s quite normal for children to be afraid of firefighters when they’re dressed head to toe in their gear. Teaching them that there’s nothing to be afraid of is important!
Then they learn to stop, drop and roll. And how to line up for a fire drill. I also liked this part because it talked about leaving everything in the classroom, lining up quietly, and planning a route to get out of the school. Everyone makes it out safely, of course, and the book has a happy ending.
While there are lots of books about fire safety, this one is perfect for the animal lover. Not only are the animals funny and interesting, but their factoids had me researching various animals on Google after our first read through. I had no idea that koalas were stinky. BigBrother keeps asking questions about the various animals discussed in the book. I really like the idea of combining two ideas — animal facts and fire safety information — so that kids have fun while learning. Kudos to author Jamie Harper.
Tomorrow I will be reviewing another fun fire book. Be sure to come back on Friday for a giveaway of all three books — this one, Firefighter Ted and the one I’m reviewing tomorrow. Don’t forget that this is Fire Prevention Week. Talk to your kids about having a fire drill in your own home. It’s never too early to talk about an escape route in the event of a fire.
[Disclaimer: I purchased this book with my own money. Link is through Amazon Affiliates.]
I’m kind of in love with 
by Andrea Beaty and Pascal Lemaitre. It’s not exactly a book that teaches fire safety. In fact, I’m not exactly sure that I want my sons to use what seems to be a canned of whipped cream as a fire extinguisher. But, oh, it makes me laugh. And it makes the boys laugh. And laughter is good.