Alphabet Rescue

by Audrey Wood, Bruce Wood (Illustrator)

Bestselling writer Audrey Wood and her artist son Bruce Wood team up to present an alphabet book in this popular series. Now the little letters build a fire truck and save the day! Engaging alphabet books are perennial bestsellers with unlimited demand, and so are books about fire trucks. This splendid book is a surefire winner! As in their previous collaborations, the Woods bring lowercase letters to life in a fun adventure that is sure to have children learning their alphabet without even realizing they are studying. In this action-packed adventure, we witness the lowercase letters as they save the day and the uppercase letters. Riding in a fire truck they fixed themselves, these lowercase letters become heroes with firehoses!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Juvenile, Adventure, Storytime, Transport

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

Audrey Wood studied art and drama at the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has owned an operated a book and import store, taught chldren's drama and art, and traveled throughout Mexico and Guatemala studying Indian folk art. She now lives in Hawaii with her talented family (husband Don and son Bruce, who have both collaborated with Audrey by illustrating some of her books).

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is one I dread when my kid picks it out. The way the author writes sounds like when adults who have no experience with children try to talk to kids. Like they're simplifying their normal speech patterns but it just sounds off.

Also, and seriously Scholastic? Seriously? To make something plural, you don't add an apostrophe. You just add an "s" to it. So "...a new batch of little e's trapped..." is now possessive, not plural. Where were your editors, Scholastic?

[Claudia Valdivieso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Santi loves letters so he loves this story 😊

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

My children and I love the Charley's Alphabet series by Audrey and Bruce Wood. Alphabet Rescue (2006) is the third and currently final book in the series. The first two are Alphabet Adventure and Alphabet Mystery.

In Alphabet Rescue Charley's alphabet has finished their first year in school with Charley and are heading back to Alphabet City for a well earned summer vacation. While in the city they meet up with the local fire fighting squad and try their "hands" at being fire fighters. Unfortunately the hose gets away from them and they are scolded by Fire Chief F saying that fire fighting is a capital letter's job (they are all lower case).

Charley's alphabet decides to rebuild an old abandoned fire truck and make it their own. As with the previous two books, each letter in the alphabet makes a contribution to the project: the o brings oil, the p brings paint, the y paints the yellow stripe and so forth. The rebuilding of the car invites helps teach vocabulary while being a fun hide and seek game.

Many of the pages also include every single letter of the alphabet, sometimes in upper case, sometimes in lower case and sometimes in both. To make things a little easier both cases are the same color (the I and i are red for example).

The story isn't just about rebuilding a classic car, it's about young letters proving their worth. After doing a number of small rescues (rescuing the letters C A T from a tree and helping M U D wash their car) Charley's alphabet gets the chance to be true heroes.

[Tasia Sandlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about the adventures the alphabet takes and what they learn on the way. The lower case help the upper case with a major fire. This story has wonderful illustration and gives a very clear representation of the alphabet and can be used in the classroom to introduce letters as uppercase and lowercase.

[Jennifer]

This book has bright illustrations. My preschool students thought it was funny that letters rescued a fire truck and helped put out a fire. I was able to observe which students could identify letters of the alphabet. It turned out to be a great assessment tool.

[Kristan · Rating 5 out of 5]

3 year old son loves this book!

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best alphabet books I have ever read over the past 40+ years (reading for Me when I was little, then my younger brother and sister, followed by my son, and currently reading to my grandson)

It has a great multi-level story great for young minds that want to be entertained, and ample opportunity to discuss different letters and how they are put together to make words. It is fun and exciting. We read it over and over again.

I was in search of an interesting alphabet book that includes cars, which is a surprisingly hard thing to find. I even contemplated making my own, noticing this gigantic hole in the book market. While this one is not specifically about cars, it includes them, which is half the battle in getting some little ones to read.

[Stephanie Chiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cute book for preschool age children but I have to admit, at the beginning (mind you, I have never read a book by this author), I was so confused. I really thought this book was just another 'A is for apple' kind of thing but to my surprise, the book is actually a fictional storybook about a bunch of letters who take on an underdog appearance at first and with a little practice, end up saving the day. I thought it was very creative, but I decided on four stars because of my confusion at first. I didn't know what was happening and it took me a couple of pages to reach the author's level.

[Hallie Nelson]

ABC
A story is told while also focusing on certain letters throughout. This book doesn't focus on one letter or have the letters in alphabetical order. Following the story of the fire engines might make some children interested but I don't think that this book would catch all children's attention. I would not use this book in a young classroom if in a classroom at all. This would be better for an age that already knows their letters and are trying to practice on their own.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son loves these books. I think children like seeing children do great things!

**Talking points - Let no man despise thy youth - you can do hard things and help others! Has anyone told you that you couldn't do something that you wanted to do? Were they right and are you thankful or were they wrong?

[Cori Dantio · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went into this expecting an actual Alphabet book which teaches about words that start with specific letters. This was more of a fictional story about the letters of the alphabet. This would be really nice to teach exposure (Oh look! What letter is on the fire truck?) rather than overtly teaching alphabetic principles.

[Aolund · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really dislike the art in this picture book, but it's certainly an action-packed alphabet story, and many young alphabet-learners will love finding the various words that are sneakily spelled out in the pictures.

[Mama C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping this book might be good for a preschooler who is learning the alphabet, but it really wasn't. The characters in the story are all letters, but that's it. A child who already knows their letters might enjoy pointing them out in the pictures.

[Sarah Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected. It's not a traditional alphabet book, but there are some hidden words in the pictures. It might help with capital and lowercase recognition but if you are expecting an A-Z story, it's not gonna be that.

[Yamile Méndez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original and entertaining.

[Andrew Lovell · Rating 1 out of 5]

No story line, poorly made computer graphic illustrations that were chaotic, didn’t cover the entire alphabet, hard to follow.

[kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

not a fan

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chose this for fire safety theme!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cute book

[Nadina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the artwork for this book, it is a cute story and enjoyable with a good pace.

[Ryan Hercik]

Title: Alphabet Rescue
Author: Audrey Wood
Illustrator: Bruce Wood
Genre: Concept book
Theme(s): Alphabet, Teamwork
Opening line/sentence: The little letters in Charley’s Alphabet had worked hard all year long in school, helping him learn to read and write.
Brief Book Summary: The little letters took a vacation since their owner was going to his grandparents. They restored an old fire engine and rescued the capital letters just in time to save the letter factory that was on fire. They were cheered on and thanked and returned home in time for their owner, Charlie, to write a thank you note to his grandparents for the visit.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: (Hornbook) 32 pp. Scholastic/Blue Sky (Scholastic Trade Division) 2006. ISBN 0-439-85316-8
(5) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Wood. While Charley is visiting his grandparents, his alphabet's lowercase letters head off on their own vacation. They find and rebuild a deserted fire truck, and with the help of experienced firefighters (capital letters), they put out a factory fire. The overly crowded, too-slick computer-generated illustrations feature gumball-colored letters.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Vicki Foote (Children’s Literature)
This is an adventure of the "little" letters of the alphabet who take a vacation to Alphabet City, where they were made. When the capital letters do not want them to help because they are too little, the little letters decide to fix up an old fire truck for themselves. They use the hose on their truck to help wash a dirty car, use their ladders and nets to rescue three letters from a tree, and when the letter?making factory is on fire, they have their chance to be heroes. The big fire engine breaks down on the way to the fire, so the big letters climb aboard the little letters' fire truck. They rescue three little e's at the factory and put out the fire. A big parade is held for all the alphabet heroes. The little letters return home just in time to help their friend Charley write a card to his grandparents. Each page contains all the alphabet letters for children to search and find. Colorful illustrations were digitally created using modeling software. It is a fun story and useful for children learning the alphabet and learning to identify small and capital letters.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: I tended to agree more with the second review from Children’s Literature because the story is very colorful and appealing to children. Having atleast one little or capital letter from the alphabet adds another story to the book. It does having a lot of things going on in each page but the computer images do a great job of spacing color throughout the page.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This story has a very creative plot and has an underlying theme that shows elementary students that students big and small can always work together to achieve a common goal. I enjoyed the one page where the letters “C-a-t” where stuck in the true. Student would be able to notice this and point out that a fireman or safety person is best to help whenever there is a problem. This fun and exciting story is portrayed with lots of colors making it appealing to young children.
Consideration of Instructional Application: Since this story appeals to a PreK-Kindergarten classroom, I would help my students understand that all capital letters may not look similar to their lowercase counterparts. A main focus of book handling skills would be great thing to work out with students using this book. Also pointing out colors and finding all the letters of the alphabet on each page adds another dimension to this book.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Alphabet Rescue
Author: Audrey Wood
Illustrator: Bruce Wood
Genre: ABC Book
Theme(s): Compassion; Helping others
Opening line/sentence: "The little letters in Charlie's alphabet had worked hard all year long in school"
Brief Book summary: The lowercase letters in Charlie's alphabet take a vacation to Alphabet City. Thankfully they fix up the old fire truck, because it comes in handy when the big one breaks. They rescue other letters and put out the fire!
Professional Review 1:
"This is an adventure of the "little" letters of the alphabet who take a vacation to Alphabet City, where they were made. When the capital letters do not want them to help because they are too little, the little letters decide to fix up an old fire truck for themselves. They use the hose on their truck to help wash a dirty car, use their ladders and nets to rescue three letters from a tree, and when the letter?making factory is on fire, they have their chance to be heroes. The big fire engine breaks down on the way to the fire, so the big letters climb aboard the little letters' fire truck. They rescue three little e's at the factory and put out the fire. A big parade is held for all the alphabet heroes. The little letters return home just in time to help their friend Charley write a card to his grandparents. Each page contains all the alphabet letters for children to search and find. Colorful illustrations were digitally created using modeling software. It is a fun story and useful for children learning the alphabet and learning to identify small and capital letters." - Vicki Foote (Children's Literature)
Professional Review 2:
"In the newest installment of Audrey and Bruce Wood’s alphabet series, Charley goes to visit his grandparents for the summer, and his lowercase letters go on vacation to Alphabet City, the place where they were born. There, the lowercase letters are excited to see a new fire truck—until they are told that they are too small to use it. Wandering around, they find an abandoned fire truck, clean off the m-u-d themselves and proceed to save a c-a-t from a tree. Suddenly, the factory where all letters are made catches fire, and the capital letters’ truck’s tire blows out. It’s up to the lowercase letters to save the day and work together with the capital letters to squelch the flames—and return home in time to help Charley write a thank-you note to his grandparents. While the plot is a trifle thin, the hyper-realistic artwork, the bright colors, the spelling puzzles and the inventive use of letters within the text will no doubt appeal to children just becoming familiar with their ABCs." - Kirkus Review
Response to Professional Reviews:
The illustrations brighten up the pages and definitely will keep children's attention. I also agree with reviewers that the puzzles keep children involved and help them learn their alphabet without even realizing it! I also think that this is a great alphabet book.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
Consideration of Instructional Application:
Teachers could give their students each a letter that is used in the book. As that letter is needed for the story, the student could come up and place it on a felt board. After reading this in class, teachers could have children create their own fire trucks and fill them with letters to spell a word as an art project.

[Jordan Smith]

Summary: This book is an ABC book and in this book, Charley goes to visit his grandparents for the summer, and his lowercase letters go on vacation to Alphabet City, the place where they were born. There, the lowercase letters are excited to see a new fire truck until they are told that they are too small to use it. Wandering around, they find an abandoned fire truck, clean off the m-u-d themselves and proceed to save a c-a-t from a tree. Suddenly, the factory where all letters are made catches fire, and the capital letters’ truck’s tire blows out. It’s up to the lowercase letters to save the day and work together with the capital letters to stop the flames and return home in time to help Charley write a thank-you note to his grandparents.

Activity: This would be a great book to use anytime while trying to teach the letters of the alphabet to your students, but you could also use it during fire safety week. For an activity, I would read this book and once I finished, I would instruct my students to pick a letter from the alphabet. Depending on the letter that they picked, I would then have them write a word that relates to fire or fire safety that starts will the letter they picked. Once they have written a word that relates to fire or fire safety that begins with their letter, they will then use their imagination and write a sentence of how their word or object they wrote down could be rescued and what it would be rescued by. For example, if the students picked the letter C and wrote down ‘cat’ because fire men rescue cats from trees, they would write how a cat could be rescued and what it would be rescued by (does not have the be a fireman).

[Aubrey Thorne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: ABC picture book

Annotation: Bestselling writer Audrey Wood and her artist son Bruce Wood team up to present an alphabet book in this popular series. Now the little letters build a fire truck and save the day!

Engaging alphabet books are perennial bestsellers with unlimited demand, and so are books about fire trucks. This splendid book is a surefire winner! As in their previous collaborations, the Woods bring lowercase letters to life in a fun adventure that is sure to have children learning their alphabet without even realizing they are studying. In this action-packed adventure, we witness the lowercase letters as they save the day and the uppercase letters. Riding in a fire truck they fixed themselves, these lowercase letters become heroes with firehoses!

Themes: alphabet, fire trucks, Alphabet Recognition, Firefighters, Helping Others

Ways to Use: teaching the alphabet, encouraging reluctant readers (boys), teaching community helpers, cooperation

[Paige Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alphabet Rescue by Audrey Wood and Bruce Wood is a fun children’s book. The book helps to teach children the alphabet. The letters come to life and make learning fun for children. Illustrations are very detailed including shadowing. They are cartoon-like. Each letter is a different color. The pictures enhanced the book because the alphabet would spell out thank you in the illustration. Diagonal lines throughout the book show movement. Thick lines are used for the letters to make them stand out. There was a repeated pattern- each page spelt a word in the background corresponding to the text. The story was very colorful throughout the entire book, bringing out energy and happiness. I recommend this book as a read aloud in a classroom. Preschool children would love the fun illustrations while learning at the same time.

[Betsy McElhannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Alphabet Rescue by Audrey Wood
2. Awards: none for this book
3. Genre: ABC Book
4. Setting: On vacation, in a town for big and little letters. The little letters are fire fighters.
5. This is one my favorite recently read ABC books. It is more than just a letter on a page. It is a story about little letters taking a vacation to a town where there is nothing but letters, and while on the vacation they fight fires. Only big letters can hold the water hose from the fire truck, but at the end of the story the big letters need the little letters help. In doing so, they are recognized for being just as important. I could read this book aloud to my students, and teach them letter recognition through the story. It can teach them as well that everyone is important just like the little letters.I loved the illustrations, and I believe young children would as well.

[Kaytlyn Witcher]

This book is an ABC Book. It is about letters rescuing words throughout the city. The letters spell out words that are transformed into that object. It shows students not only letters of the alphabet but also words that are commonly used with that letter.

Activity: I will use this book during fire safety week. Once I read this book I will instruct the students to pick a letter. Then they will write a word that relates to fire or fire safety that starts will the letter they picked. Once they have done both then they will write a sentence of how that object could be rescued and what it would be rescued by. This will not only help the students learn letters better but also word association.

[Sarah W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ready for a school break, these letters hope onto a pencil and soar to Alphabet City. The little alphabet hooks up with some capital letters to try out big fire hoses. When the hose gets out of control, the little letters are sent away. They find a broken fire engine and decide to rescue it. In their fixed up truck, the little letters zoom around the city, finding others to help. A car to clean, a 'cat' in a tree. When a fire breaks out at the letter factory, these little letters get to play a big role.

One activity for the book would be to have students pick out letters they recognize or words they see in the illustrations.

[Tiffany Jolly]

Alphabet Rescue
Fiction: picture story book. Fire trucks, Alphabet
Wood, Audrey. Alphabet Rescue. Illus by Bruce Woods. The Blue Sky Press, 2006, unp, primary.
In Alphabet Rescue, follow the letters (that act like people) while they act as firefighters and save the day before they have to be back to the card they came from. The style of the large print is creative and creates a silly tone, which is exaggerated through the use of bold digital 3D pictures.
Activity: Go back through the book and play hide-and-seek to find all of the alphabet letters on each page.