Driscoll, Laura. I Want to Be a Firefighter. Catalina Echeverri, Illus. I Can Read Series, Level 1: My Community. Harper, 08/2022. 32pp. Reader. GRADES Kindergarten – 2. HIGH ADDITIONAL. Trade $16.99. 978-0-06-298961-1.
Twins Mia and Max are excited about a visit from local firefighters to their school for Fire Safety Day. There are several types of firefighters depicted, including an engineer, marshall, captain, investigator, and hazmat team. Aimed at children just learning to read, the text has quite a bit of repetition, and is set down in a few lines per page with an emphasis on dialogue. There is considerable white space, and the full-color cartoon artwork will help readers figure out some of the wording. The firefighters include both men and women of various ethnicities, and the students depicted are also diverse, but Mia and Max are white. A nice reader about a popular career, with information on the many types of firefighters.
Penny Peck, San Jose State University iSchool