fire

I Am Smoke by Henry Herz

| Tasha
Cover image for I Am Smoke.

I Am Smoke by Henry Herz, illustrated by Merce López (9780884487883)

Told in first person by smoke itself, this picture book celebrates the many ways in which smoke appears. It’s around every campfire, forming from burning branches into a mist of carbon dioxide, water vapor and ash. Smoke can be dangerous but it can also be helpful, used to warm seeds into germination. Smoke can clear insects out of structures and make bees sleepy. It can also communicate, used for centuries around the world to send signals and emerging from incense during religious ceremonies. It can flavor our foods and act as a medicine at times. It returns to earth when it rains, ready to feed the forests and then start the cycle again.

Told in simple sentences, this picture book also shares scientific information. In a book that can be used with small children, there are marvelous science details too that will inspire some children to look at smoke differently. The uses of smoke are shared on the pages, each one highlighted and celebrated as the book continues.

The illustrations capture the wonder of the campfire and other flames. What is done best though is the way that the smoke itself is depicted. Sometimes it reaches fingers onto the page, other times it fills the page with white vapors and still others it darkens the scene. The smoke is layered and full of movement, beautifully shown in each image.

A fiery look at smoke and its impact on our world. Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Tilbury House Publishers.

I Am the Storm by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple

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Cover image for I Am the Storm

I Am the Storm by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple, illustrated by Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell (9780593222751)

This picture book focuses on four types of storms that children may encounter where they live: tornado, blizzard, hurricane, and wild fires. The family with a tornado nearby has a party in their basement together with cards and books by flashlight. When the storm had passed, they cleared up afterwards. When the blizzard came to another family, they bundled up and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in the fireplace. After the storm, they shoveled the snow and made a snowman. When the wildfires came, that family left the area and went camping. They could still see the smoke. When the fires were out, they swept up ashes and washed windows. When the hurricane came, that family moved away from the coast to stay with cousins and then returned home when the storm was over.

This picture book is a glimpse of the power and impact of nature and its storms. It also shows how preparations can help keep everyone safe during a storm, no matter what kind it is. The book ends with deep empathy for how scared children can be during storms and a way for children to see themselves in nature and even the storms that pass and bring calm behind them. The text is simple and reads aloud well, inviting readers to see storms and fires as events that need respect for their power but don’t have to have children living in fear.

The illustrators use a wide-ranging color palette to evoke the different kinds of storms. With black and purple storm clouds, the eerie orange color of a tornado arrives. The icy blue of winter blizzards illuminates the entire house. The hurricane too arrives with purple swirling with black. After each storm, there is a lightness to the illustrations, a sense of new space in the images.

As climate change makes storms and fires more severe, this is a timely book to share. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Penguin Workshop.

Review: Fire Engine No. 9 by Mike Austin

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Fire Engine No 9 by Mike Austin

Fire Engine No. 9 by Mike Austin

Released September 22, 2015.

This picture book embraces the drama of responding to a fire, showing firefighters sliding down their pole, heading out to the fire, and then putting it out. Along the way, they hook the hose up to the fire hydrant, save a baby, and head directly into the burning building. The book is filled with sounds like alarms sounding, sirens blaring, smashing windows, and the water rushing out of the hose. Climactic and action-filled, this picture book is perfect for the youngest fire-fighting enthusiasts.

Short and filled with almost entirely words that relate to the sounds of a fire response, this book reads quickly and effortlessly. The pacing is frenetic but also systematic like the response itself. The entire book has the feel of excitement but also of an elite team that is prepared to help people.

The art is vibrant and filled with motion. When the fire engine is rushing to the fire, the entire vehicle leans forward with the speed. Dark smoke appears on the page as they reach the fire, billowing over the rest of the city. Bright reds are used very effectively as a background color to amp up the drama and imply the heat of the fire. One of the firefighters is revealed to be a woman at the end of the book, something got a cheer out of me.

Sirens, trucks, action and rescues make this simple book about fire fighters a dynamic pick for toddlers. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Random House Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss.

Review: Out of the Woods by Rebecca Bond

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Out of the Woods by Rebecca Bond

Out of the Woods: A True Story of an Unforgettable Event by Rebecca Bond (InfoSoup)

Inspired by a true story, this picture book tells of the author’s grandfather’s life in Ontario, Canada in 1914. Antonio lived with his family in a hotel run by his mother. He spent his time with the hotel workers since there were no children around. He helped the cooks, the maids, and watched as others hauled wood and repaired buildings. The hotel had three stories with a space to feed crowds of people, individual rooms for travelers and then a large open dormitory space for others. He loved spending time in the forest around the hotel too. Then one year when Antonio was almost five, it was dry as could be. When smoke was spotted in the distance, everyone knew they were in real trouble. All of the people fled the building and stood in the lake watching the fire come closer. Then something amazing happened and the animals too left the forest and entered the water, standing near the humans and close to one another, predator and prey alike. When the fire ended, the hotel was still standing and the animals returned to the burned forest, but Antonio never forgot what he witnessed that day.

Bond captures the time period, allowing readers to really explore the hotel that Antonio lived in, showing us all of the floors and the hard-working men that the hotel served. The text offers details such as describing Antonio’s room as a place that was off the kitchen and had once been a pantry. Even small things are noted like the travel bags men carried and the fact that they sometimes had guns along too. Through these details, the entire hotel comes alive on the page.

The illustrations in the book also add to the details from the long distance view of the hotel on the lake to the finely drawn images showing the interior. Small details are captured in sepia tones and fine ink lines, allowing us to get a glimpse into the past and a way of life. The same details continue even as the fire rages and the animals come into the water. Realistic and lovely, the animals’ body language shows how wary they are and yet how desperate too.

A true story brought to life through details and wonder. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

One of the Survivors

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One of the Survivors by Susan Shaw

Joey’s mother died in a fire a little more than a year ago, so when the new fire alarm system at his school starts to go off, it makes him jumpy.  Finally, when the static combines with the alarm to garble the message from the office, Joey insists that his class has to leave the building.  But no one listens to him except for his best friend Maureen.  They are the only two in their class to survive the fire.  Now Joey and Maureen are being accused of setting the fire by those who lost family members.  Joey begins a journal to try to get some of the images out of his head, hoping that he can start to heal himself even as he struggles with the grief of an entire community.

Shaw, author of The Boy from the Basement, writes spare, electric prose.  She has an ability to take an overwhelming subject and tame it enough for readers to truly understand the emotional wreckage left behind.  Joey and Maureen seem younger than high schoolers in this novel, something that makes them read as even more vulnerable and damaged.   Joey is a fascinating lens to see the events through, as he battles the guilt and loneliness of being a survivor.  Joey’s story is told with honesty and great strength.

Highly recommended, this novel is a gripping and also thoughtful book about the consequences of small choices and the bravery it takes to survive them.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.