Fire Truck

by Peter Sís, Peter Sís (Illustrator)

Overview

Matt loves fire trucks, and one morning when he wakes up, he is a fire truck—right down to his hoses, hooks, and ladders! His wheels and sirens couldn't be handier for performing many important duties around the house, especially rescuing teetering teddy bears or precariously placed pets. And a gatefold spread of Matt's fully loaded rig will have happy young viewers counting from one to ten—over and over again—in this fun-filled ode to the classic red fire truck by Caldecott Honor-winning Peter Sis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780688158781
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/17/1998
Edition description:	1 ED
Pages:	28
Sales rank:	638,642
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.25(d)
Lexile:	AD350L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Peter Sís is an internationally acclaimed author, artist, and filmmaker. Among his works are three Caldecott Honor books: The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain; Tibet: Through the Red Box; and Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei. He has illustrated five other novels by Sid Fleischman, including the Newbery Medal book The Whipping Boy. He lives with his family in New York State.

Peter Sís is an internationally acclaimed author, artist, and filmmaker. Among his works are three Caldecott Honor books: The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain; Tibet: Through the Red Box; and Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei. He has illustrated five other novels by Sid Fleischman, including the Newbery Medal book The Whipping Boy. He lives with his family in New York State.

Editorial Reviews

. . .[A] fiery fantasy.

Scientific American

PreS-Sis blends simple text with bold pictures to give insight into one boy's vivid imagination. Matt's passion for fire engines permeates his whole life: "His first words in the morning were `fire truck.' The last thing he said before he went to bed was `fire truck.'" Not content just to play fireman, Matt wakes up and finds that he has actually become a fire truck. Only the insistent aroma of pancakes can bring him out of his enticing daydream. One simple sentence per picture allows for plenty of page turning without sacrificing the clear story line. A fold-out page of the fire truck accompanied by a numbered list of items to look for can be read as part of the narrative or returned to later as a find-and-count game. Matt's pajamas and cap are flamboyant red like his extensive collection of toy trucks, while other details of home are reduced to plain black outlines, showing how imaginary worlds can seem more real than everyday life. Small groups of toddlers will love tearing around the room making siren noises just like Matt. This short, active story (plus the undeniable allure of fire engines) is perfect for children who have just discovered the joys of pretending.-Torrie Hodgson, Burlington Public Library, WA

School Library Journal

Peter Sis illustrates Matt's obsession in colors that are mostly fire-engine red. -- New York Times Books of the Century

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

Matt loves fire trucks so much that one day he wakes up as one. (His bed serves as the truck from his waist down while from the waist up he is still Matt-a fire-truck centaur, if you will). He zooms through the living room ("the neighborhood"), where he puts out a fire, rescues a cat, and saves a falling teddy bear. Only when he smells pancakes does he "park" at the kitchen table and become Matt again. S¡s's deceptively spare style is the genius of this book-simple black lines against lots of white space emphasize the uncomplicated nature of Matt's world, while the almost exclusively red palette focuses all of our attention (like Matt's) on fire trucks. Poster-board quality paper will fare well in the eager hands of recent board book graduates as they delight in Matt's "this is my world" attitude-an attitude that begs the question, What do you want to be when you wake up? -- --Horn Book

Marilyn Bousquin

. . .[A] fiery fantasy.

Scientific American

...[A] sweetly fanciful paean to these sleek red vehicles...[a]light with whimsy...

NY Times Book Review

Sis (Starry Messenger) celebrates a universally cherished childhood favorite—the fire truck—in simple, clean lines and smooth planes of color. Matt loves fire trucks so much that one day he wakes up to find himself metamorphosed into one. Matt-the-truck has a heroic morning putting out fires and saving victimsþa house cat and a beloved teddy bear. Matt-the-truck is transformed back into a little boy by the irresistible lure of pancakes. "The fire truck parked at the kitchen tableþand Matt ate his breakfast." Included within the book is a gate-fold illustration that opens up to reveal a large rendering of Matt in his fully equipped truck state; the three-page spread ingeniously incorporates a counting lesson, from one driver to ten boots. Understanding of the scope of youthful imagination, Sis fulfills one of a child's dearest fantasies, in crisp black line drawings on a white background with brilliant splashes of red, and only occasional bits of gold, brown, and blue-gray. The spartan application of color makes the intensely red fire trucks leap off the pages, perfect for point-and-name games and for inspiring similar flights of the imagination.

Kirkus Reviews