A Day With Firefighters (Welcome Books)

Rating:
Summary: A Child-friendly Day with Firefighters
Review: Filled with pictures of smiling, friendly firefighters, this book gives a nice "snap-shot" of what firefighters do. The highlights, of course, are on fighting fires. The illustrations are acutal photos of firefighters and their equipment. Some are cheesy and obviously staged, but they're charming nonetheless.

The firestation is obviously in a very large city and the equipment they use is impressive. Children from large cities will see something familiar; children from more rural areas will get to see the neat stuff that their local, small volunteer company doesn't have.

The words are simple and clear, suitable for the youngest firefighter enthusiast. The pictures tell so much more of a story, though, and definitely make the book.

For those children also interested in police officers. The companion Welcome Book is every bit as good.

Rating:
Summary: Reinforces sexual and racial stereotypes
Review: I bought this book for my two-year-old daughter, who is very interested in firefighters and fire trucks. It has great photographs, which I think make the book more interesting than an illustrated book. The text is simple and appropriate for very young children.

However, not only are all the firefighters shown are male, which may be representative of reality, but the only two women in the entire book appear on the last page, apparently thanking the firefighters for helping them. This perpetuates the stereotype of big strong men taking care of helpless women, which disappointed me. Also, every single person in this book is white, which definitely is not representative of reality.

This book would have been darn near perfect if it reflected some racial and sexual diversity, but as it is, I won't be sharing it with my daughter.