Rating: 
Summary: Fireboat is a helpful story
Review: I like history stories because I like when my mom happy-cries. My mom happy-cried at this book. The book made me glad that the people saved New York and other people worked the fireboat. I gave it four stars instead of five because lots of people think it's scary, it might scare little children. But I didn't think this story was scary, not one bit.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprised, but pleased
Review: I picked this book up at the library without looking through it. I intended it for my 3 year old son. I was as surprised as another reviewer that it was about September 11th. However, once I realized it, I read it privately and showed it to my husband. He and I both agreed that it was a beautiful book that dealt with a enormous, important event sensitively. I decided to buy it for our own collection. The illustrations are very colorful, and the text simple. My son loves the book. Clearly, he doesn't understand the whole story. But I remember holding my son tightly on that day and think this story memorializes the day and the heroes of the John. J. Harvey well. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Perspective
Review: I read this book to my son who is four and a half. We are in California now, but my family is back in NYC. He was concerned last 9.11 and is just slightly aware that something bad happened where his grandparents live. This book is the perfect perspective on the tragedy for him. It mentions the event, but doesn't dwell on detail, motive, or the horror. It explains to him why the twin towers are no longer there (buildings he was aware of), without worrying him with why they were targets.Perfectly drawn and lyrically told.
Rating: 
Summary: Talk about being blind-sided
Review: I was about half-way through the reading of this book when I abruptly slapped it shut in order to protect my four-year-old son. I thought I was reading him an educational story about a fireboat. This is, after all, a picture book with all the elements intended to hook the interest of a very young audience (note:age category 4-8). I was shocked to find graphic images portraying the September 11th tragedy. There was absolutely no warning on the front or back covers that this was yet ANOTHER Sept. 11th book, and no summary of the content on the inside cover or copyright pages (the copyright information and summery of the story are barely readable on the very last page before back cover; the text written in squiggled, wave-like lines). I thought it was simply a story about a fireboat. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This book is clearly designed for very young children. The text is large and inviting, with the clever word play that kids enjoy. The word 'big' is printed very large, the word 'down' slopes downward, the description of the George Washington Bridge is shaped into the gentle suspension of the bridges design, etc... The illustrations take up the entire page and are very bright, colorful and, at times, beautifully abstract. The writing style is simple and direct... 'The Harvey was the largest, fasted and shiniest fireboat of them all.' We're given a grand description of the fireboat and all its qualities, stuff our kids love learning about... like how many engines the boat ran on, mini-pics of the control dial, steering wheel and water pump, and what jobs the crew members had. To make a long story short, the John J. Harvey becomes so out of date that it retires until 1995 when a group of friends buy, and restore the boat and float it back out on the Hudson River. Then whole book shifts gears with a dramatically empty, gray page where the tragedy of September 11th is announced in plain, white text. The next page is a double-spread showing a bright blue sky, the two Twin Towers of The World Trade Center and two airplanes headed straight for them. The text switches into a dramatic swell, 'Two airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers. CRASHED, CRASHED, CRASHED into these two strong buildings.' The book goes on to assault young readers/listeners eyes with three more double-spread displays of fire and debris (one of the towers actually falling down) while the John J. Harvey heroically pumped water at site. I was horrified when I finally (in my sons absence of course) examined these pages. Haven't our kids seen enough of these graphic images on the television and in the newspapers? In my opinion, this book used these images in order to grab the attention of young readers the same way that movie-makers use blood and gore to attract adult viewers. I'm of the opinion that children this young do not need such specific information about September 11th. I wouldn't recommend this book to any child under the age of eight. This really is an unfortunate circumstance, especially since so much heart, hard work, and good intention was involved... but this type of education really is a tragedy when you consider that the intended audience is still afraid of monsters under their bed and the boogie man in the closet.
Rating:
Summary: Age-appropriate children's book on 9/11
Review: I was very pleased with this book. It really captured the interest of my elementary students. Its depiction of ordinary people coming to the aid of others in NYC after the 9/11/01 tragedy is done in an uplifting matter. I have recommended this book to my elementary teacher collegues.
Rating:
Summary: What a great story!
Review: In keeping with such children's classics such as "Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel" & "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge" this story tells about the usefullness of an old NYC fireboat, called out of retirement to fight the fires on 9/11. I see that others were bothered that a book for young children mentions such a difficult day in history. Perhaps the cover should have some sort of warning. However, the illustrations are not scary or morbid. My 5yo son absolutely loved the book and begged to hear it again when we brought it home from the library so we'll be adding it to our own collection.
Rating:
Summary: really impressive
Review: It is not easy to take such a serious topic and write it for young children without patronizing or talking down to them. But Kalman does just that through wonderful text and illustrations. Kalman had a head start as the Harvey story is such an uplifting story to begin with--a boat that was put out to pasture is put to good use again during a time of great need. Who wouldn't like a story like that?
Rating:
Summary: A happy-go-lucky tale of September 11
Review: So you're walking around the children's section of the library with your child and on a desk or a table or the floor your kid sees a picture book called, "Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey". On the cover is a picture of a perky little fireboat spurting water hither and yon. It's a charming little image and without flipping through it (or perhaps just the first few pages) you pick it up and check it out. Later, you're reading it to your toddler when, to your surprise, there's a mention of September 11th. Turning the next page you see two planes flying side by side into the Twin Towers. Turn another page and the towers have exploded. Gouache fire, smoke, falling debris, and what could possibly be blood cascade from the sky. Now totally apart from the fact that two planes did not, in fact, fly into the Twin Towers at the same time, what on earth is this doing in a children's book at this time? Who's bright idea was that? And what in the world is this story about?
Well, you've just stumbled across Maira Kalman's answer to the tragedy of 9-11. "Fireboat", in its own somewhat mistaken way, is the tale of the little ship that could. Based on a true story, the book begins with a slapdash encapsulation of New York City, the way it was in 1931. The Empire State Building was built, Babe Ruth hit his 611th home run, Snickers the candy bar was made (if this was a movie I'd wonder if the Mars company got a payment of some sort for this gratuitous product placement), and a fireboat was born. The John J. Harvey was great but in 1995 it was retired. Fortunately a group of philanthropists decided to purchase the run down boat and make it as good as new. They did so and not a minute too soon. When the Twin Towers fell the water pipes needed by the firemen were broken down and buried. It was up to the John J. Harvey to put out the nasty fires and save the day. And now, "The Harvey is back to being a very happy boat". The end!
Entirely aside from whether or not it's appropriate to draw such a gratuitous depiction of the Towers falling at this moment in time (and baby, gratuitous doesn't even begin to explain the half of it) let's look at the book as a whole. There's a really weird thing going on in this story. First of all, author Kalman doesn't seem to be entirely certain what kind of tale she wants to tell. Obviously she wants to honor the owners of the Harvey as well as the actions of others on that tragic day. To do so, however, she's chosen an oddly cutesy method. Her explanations of 1931 include this tidbit: "On a hot and jazzy night the word HOT-CHA was invented". Then she shows how Harvey went along its merry way putting out fires in the piers where items sold included, "wood and cotton and bananas and bubble gum and EVERYTHING". Short of putting a face on Harvey (which this reviewer is mighty glad she abstained from) it's hard to make the elements of this tale any cuter. Then out of nowhere she draws two planes crashing into the towers, a mere page or two after the phrase, "A boat says hello with four toots". Talk about switching gears. The image of the Harvey fighting the fires of the burning towers may have calm semi-comforting words, but the page depicts gigantic burning fire enwrapped shells of buildings. It is, quite frankly, a terrifying image. And then... AND THEN the book ends (I kid you not) with this sentence: "The friends of the Harvey have found a little tugboat to adopt. Doesn't everyone need a tugboat?" Well gol durn. If terrorists blow up a cruise ship sailing out of the Chelsea piers I can guess what the next oh-so-adorable book will center on.
Look. I'm not saying that good picture books about September 11th can't be done. They're just very difficult to manage. They take a certain amount of skill and dexterity. Observe the subtle and brilliant 2004 Caldecott winner, "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers" by Mordecai Gerstein. It acknowledges the loss without including poorly thought out two page spreads of planes tearing into buildings. Kalman's book lacks tact. I think her intentions were pure with this book, but in the end the story is frightening and badly written. If you want to introduce your children to the events of that day, do so slowly with Gerstein. If you want to scare them with a falsely cheery boat tale, do so with Kalman's.
Rating: 
Summary: Thanks for making me cry me head off in front of my child !!
Review: The publisher of this book should have added a few more words to the title of this book - " A book about Sept.11". I had no idea that Fireboat was about this horrible tragedy. In no way was I prepared to encounter this subject unexpectedly and I soon was sobbingly trying to get through the rest of the book.It seemed like a light and breezy book at first, then a slap in the face a page later.
I don't think this is a badly written or illustrated book, but people should be prepared to deal with our their own emotions before reading it.
I got this book from the library - I should have read the Amazon reviews first !
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This book handles the events of 9/11 in a wonderful way. The pictures are very tasteful. After seeing all the horrific images on the tv, the children will not be frighten by these pictures. This is a very well written book. Parents should always read a book before reading it to their child. Although I can't imagine why this book would be offensive.
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