Issue #0

Firehouse!

Plot

Kindergarten-Grade 2 Teague is known and loved for his '40s-style acrylic paintings with hilariously odd perspectives, wry facial expressions, and a heavily ironic disconnect between text and pictures. Here, the nattily dressed, citified bulldog introduced in Funny Farm (Scholastic, 2009) visits the firehouse in hopes of becoming a real firefighter. The station's mice laugh as Edward tries on a shiny red fire hat, but the text fails to indicate that the pup has put it on backwards and is struggling to extricate his face. Nor can you tell from the impassive professional firefighters all Dalmatians, of course what wild blunders Edward makes as the team goes out for a drill. Still, when a real emergency occurs, Edward is the hero, and the story ends with a parade in his honor and, anticlimactically, a sound sleep. Children will enjoy Firehouse! for its mild humor, winsome and colorful illustrations, and depiction of firefighters at work. While it's not as funny as many other Teague books, it should attract a wide audience. Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY.