Fire! Fire!

by Gail Gibbons

Learn how firefighters battle flames in this classic nonfiction picture book by Washington Post/Children’s Book Guild Award winner Gail Gibbons. The alarm sounds. FIRE! FIRE!  Big trucks roll out of the firehouse and race to the scene. Out come the soft hoses and aerial ladders. Whether the fire is in the city or in the country, on the waterfront or in a deep forest, fire fighters are on the scene in moments, ready to attack the blaze. Fire! Fire! teaches beginning readers about the important job of firefighters in the community. The book includes a glossary in the back with fire-fighting equipment keywords as well as a list of ways to prevent a fire and what to do if there is a fire. Share this book at home or in a classroom for units on safety, including for Fire Prevention Week.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Firefighters

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

From gailgibbons.com: I was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1944. Even as a little child, I was always busy putting books together. Sometimes I would bind them with yarn to hold the pages together. I've always loved drawing and painting. I was also a very curious child. My parents tell me that I was always asking lots and lots of questions.

Later, I went on to the University of Illinois, where I studied graphic design. Then I moved to New York City, where I got a job doing artwork for television shows. Eventually I was asked to do the artwork for a children's show. While doing that show, some of the children asked me if I had ever thought of doing children's books. My mind immediately recalled how much I enjoyed doing that type of thing when I was a child. So I put an idea for a book together and right away a publisher bought it. That book was called Willy and His Wheel Wagon. Since then, over 170 books that I have written and illustrated have been published. The type of books I write are non-fiction books. This is because I love researching so much. I get to ask lots of questions, just like when I was a kid. I also get to travel and meet lots of interesting people. While doing research for my book Nature's Green Umbrella: Tropical Rain Forests, I traveled to two islands where there are tropical rain forests, Saba and Dominica. I also had a great time writing and illustrating the book. I get a lot of pleasure from doing the type of work I do.

Reviews

[Fass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatest book ever!

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great, informational book for students to learn about fires. Fire! Fire! includes four different types of fire; city, country, forest, and waterfront. Each type of fire is explained on how the firefighters put the fire out and what is used on the fire trucks or other fire equipment. This would be a great fire safety lesson for younger students. I would recommend this book for younger students K-3. It is an easy read and the pictures explain everything that the text is saying. For the very young students like Kindergartners it may need to be used as a read aloud but the students should be able to take away the message intended. I rated this book 5 out of 5 star. The pictures and text are very informational and would be an easy book for a fire safety lesson.

[Sara Albrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to teach children more about fires and firefighters. The book is divided into 4 sections, each being focused on a different type of fire: city fires, countryside fires, forest fires, and waterfront fires. This book does a great job of explaining the different ways that fires are put out in simple terms that can be easily understood while still providing new information to children.
I enjoyed reading this book as the illustrations are simple and informative yet match the story perfectly. I would recommend this book to early elementary students (around 1st-2nd grade) as it would be great paired with a lesson about firefighters and isn't too complicated for this age. I also thought this book did a good job of including diverse characters throughout the story, there are many races and genders included in the illustrations.

[Lauren Yturria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keywords; realistic fiction, first responders

Summary; Fire! Fire! by Gail Gibbons was a very cute book to read. I like how on the back pages, it gives information about fires and what to do/things that can help you fight them! This book intrigued me only because my brother is a fire cadet right now, so it did worry me a bit!

Prompt; The literary element that was obviously most used throughout the book was conflict. There were different fires throughout the book and it showed who they called/what the firefighters did in each different case which was cool to learn as well. Overall, I would definitely keep this on my classroom library shelf o the students can be more aware of fires as well.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that this talked about how we fight fires in different places (city, country, forest, waterfront) and all the different people that fight fires.

The book used a lot of passive voice, which felt weird to me. *People* were doing a lot of those actions, and taking them out of the sentence seemed unnatural.

[Alyssa Crabb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture Book - This is a great book about fire-fighting in general. I feel like many little boys would like this! The book talks about how to fight fires and the process of that in 4 different climates. Very informational and well done! Lots of detail in the illustrations.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My little firefighter loves this book!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book about fire stations and how they are run!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Describes, in detail, how firefighters respond to fires in the city, the country, in the forest and on the waterfront. Talks about the different types of equipment used, too.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a great job about teaching kids about fires.

[Tiffiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sons loved this book!

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is good for parents/teachers who have to include fire prevention curriculum for their elementary school students.
It's also great for kids who have a fire truck or fire fighter obsession. Or those who have been affected by wildfires.

I would have never thought to include info on fighting fires in different situations (city, country, forest, and waterfront).

Some of the illustrations are a bit dated (especially the call takers) and the colors seem dated, too. Do volunteer fire fighters still carry pagers? I don't think so. Maybe they use mass texts now?

Would pair nicely with Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey.

[Vanessa Holzknecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible. It gives 4 different fires in 4 different areas. By doing this, it shows different ways fires can start and it also shows all the different types of firefighters such as volunteer firefighters out in the country or the smoke jumpers that put out forest fires. It also gives terms for the different equipment that they use and the different ways they get water to out out the fires. At the end it shows more fire-fighting equipment, how to prevent fires, and what to do if there is a fire. This is a very informational book that students could use to dig deeper into the subject of fires.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5* art
5* text

Squirt loves this book. It goes through 4 different kinds of fires and how each is dealt with. It has all kinds of little details that he stares at and asks about. He is now very interested in smoke alarms and any kind of alarm, and it gives me a chance to talk about what we would do if our fire alarm went off. I saw that someone recommended this book for K - 3, but Squirt is only 3, and is able to understand what is happening, and asks about what he doesn't.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not one of my favorite by Gail Gibbons but it does give really good examples of how firefighters deal with the different kinds of fires that exist. (city, country, on the water fires, etc.)

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

as a "country" emergency worker, I love the accurate detail Gibbons uses in this highly engaging and readable book. It is a wonderful resource for explaining exactly how we do things, but it's also just a fun read for kids who are into fire fighters.

[Primadonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite informative.

[Rees Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to be a smoke jumper when I grow up. I love this book.

[Ashlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My little boys love books about Fires and Firemen. This book is different from all the others because it compares/contrasts forest fires, rural fires, and city fires. It is a winner!

[Deborah Harris]

AR Quiz No. 7563 EN Nonfiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 3.5 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP, VP

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y 628.9 G441f

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straightforward, illustrated explanation of how firefighters work to put out fires in four locations: the city, country, forest and waterfront. The books also contains fire safety tips at the end.