Alice Pawley is an assistant professor of 
SciWo is an assistant professor of geosciences. She blogs about the intersection of science and real life - primarily based on her first-hand experiences. Her older posts can be found 
I am not in charge of SciWo's Storytime. Sure, it might look like I'm the one reading the books and operating the video camera, but Minnow exerts the ultimate executive authority as editor-in-chief. Some weeks no videos whatsoever are allowed to be made, some weeks she's content to let me pick the book, and some weeks she is quite happy to make a whole string of videos, so long as she chooses the content.
With that proviso, Minnow presents this week's edition of SciWo's Storytime featuring the book Little Squire the Fire Engine by Catherine Kenworthy and illustrated by Nina Barbaresi.
Now there's nothing wrong with reading about fire trucks, I just don't think that this particular book rises to the level of other classics of the genre, like Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go or Wong Herbert Yee's Fireman Small books.
Anyways, I was in the process of contemplating Minnow's enthusiasm for fire truck books and wondering how I was going to get her to see a real-life fire truck when one came to us. Literally. Here's a photo of a fire truck parked at our house a few days after this video was made. No one had a fire, but an elderly neighbor fell and hurt himself and the firefighters/first responders were dispatched to help him up and to the hospital.
Minnow was very impressed, and also very relieved that the fire truck did not sound its siren on our tiny quiet street. When she was 1, the firefighters had come to her daycare for a demo and had sounded the siren for the kids. Minnow still talks about how scared she was.
We've got a wonderful book about pillbugs that I really want to make a video about, and we're still trying to track down some of the other great books requested by our DonorsChoose friends, so check back next week for another edition of SciWo's (and Minnow's) Storytime.
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Comments
A nice story well read. Outstanding.
Posted by: Art | November 20, 2009 5:03 PM
Our local volunteer fire department will give full tours upon request. You just have to call them to set up an appointment. They also have an open house, but I've never made it to that. While we were waiting for fireworks last year I took my 4-year old niece over and asked if the volunteers could show her around - they were more than happy to. They even let her sit in the driver's seat for a minute. (these were not the ones directly supervising the action, just in the parking lot where all the people were)
Maybe professional fire departments are different, though.
Posted by: Christina Pikas | November 21, 2009 8:09 PM
You don't think that this book rises to the level of other classics of the genre? I beg to differ. My little girls loved for me to read this book to them -- over and over. They were so happy when Little Squirt and his firemen rescued the baby and the mommy!
And then a bad man came and set fire to our house! My girls were so grateful that Little Squirt and the firemen came and put out the fire before our whole house burnt down!
Unfortunately, our Little Squirt book was one of the things that got burnt up in the fire. That's why I came looking for it on the Internet. I was ecstatic to find this video of another mommy reading it to her little girl! And such a good reading, too. Thank you so much!
Posted by: Chris | December 5, 2011 9:00 PM
Glad you enjoyed it. :-)
Posted by: SciWo
| December 6, 2011 12:26 AM