By Kate and Jim McMullan
This is a fun book about a fire truck who is brave (and good looking.) While it’s not quite as memorable as I Stink! by the same author/illustrator collaborators, it is a good book. My first grade students all really liked it. I loved the expressions on the fire truck and cars’ faces.
I’m Brave! starts by introducing a fire truck and all the things that go on it. The author introduces different tools and asks the reader to identify them. Fortunately, the tools are used later on in ways that make them easier to identify. This is a nice way to spark interest in the tools and then provide a way for them to be understood. Masterfully done.
The students enjoyed learning that fire trucks have transponders. They liked the ax chopping down the door, and it was interesting that the fire truck talked about firefighters, but they don’t show up in the book.
There are some nice onomatopoeic words, and the way that they lengthen and stretch and enlarge or shrink them are nice touches.
Review by Cheryl Baker, Mill Creek Elementary Media Center
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)
Interest Level: k – 3
I’m Brave!
By Kate and Jim McMullan
Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
40 pages
Release Date: September 2, 2014
ISBN: 9780062203182 (hardcover)
