"Fire! Fire!" Said Mrs. McGuire

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: As a k-2 school library assistant, I have been a fan of Bill Martin Jr. for many years so when I saw his name on Fire, Fire Mrs. McGuire I did not hesitate to order the book for our Accelerated Reader collection. The verse is delightful and most of the pictorial content is funny and detailed but As I read the book I was appalled with two illustrations in particular that are extremely sexist. The firemen depicted in the book are seen leering at a very sexy, blond, flirting female. In this age of being politically correct, I do not see the need to exploit men or women in children's literature. It portrays sexual discrimination in both directions as well as giving a mixed message. Women are strong and capable on the one hand but sex objects on the other. I found it to be very inappropriate material for a book directed at young children. What kind of message do we want to project; That women get men to act foolish and irresponsible (the fire fighters are more concerned with the blond than with catching a falling fire victim or pursuing the fire) by being flirty and sexy? That is the message I feel the illustrations depict and I would not recommend this book for children of any age. I am very disappointed that Bill Martin would be associated with illustrations such as these. Richard Egielski, you started out well with this one but I think you forgot who your audiance is.

Rating:
Summary: owned this book when i was little
Review: I owned this book when i was a little girl and now that i have a son, i want him to be able to read it and know that females are not just a second class citizen and that they can hold positions that men are able to hold. This book also shows that you should not believe everything you see, there is probably something else going on if you dont see the whole picture.

Rating:
Summary: Help! They're chasing me!
Review: My daughter checked this book out of the library and made me read it to her over and over again. I didn't see the appeal of this book! But she loved it. So for Fire Safety week with my preschoolers, we read this book. They loved it! My god, they made me read it over and over and over again. They followed me around the room and made me read it. I still don't see the appeal. But kids love this book. Each Mrs. is on the proceeding page, they tell the story of a fire in an apartment building. It takes a bit of explaining for 4 yr olds to get the concept of a flaming cake, but they got it. They even counted the candles. The old lady is represented by about 30 candles---thanks to the author for that one!

Rating:
Summary: Fire! Fire! Said Mrs. McGuire
Review: The rhyme and story in this book are so much fun to read, they would keep young children asking to read it over and over. However, I do not feel I can use it in my classroom because of one illustration. A sexy blond is using her body to get what she wants from firemen-very inappropriate for young children! Bill Martin, please bring back your original version of this wonderful book.