*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Title: Drive the Fire Truck
Author: Dave Mottram
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: December 1, 2020
ISBN: 9781452178851
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Honk honk! Make way! Get behind the wheel of a busy fire truck as it speeds through town to fight fires. With sturdy handles on each page for babies and parents to grab and steer, this rollicking, rhyming board book makes it easy and fun to take the wheel and save the day!
Drive the Fire Truck takes young readers on an adventure from the firehouse to the fire where they follow the firefighters as they battle and successfully put out a blaze. I thought this book would be an excellent read for my husband (who is quite obsessed with fire trucks) and Little Worn Pages to read together. The story isn’t bad–it follows a simple and straightforward plot. The impending danger of the fire offers a sense of urgency to the story; however, I would argue, that although the images are incredibly busy, there is little variation in the images from one page to the next. The images are almost entirely roadways and buildings that vary slightly from page to page, but for a young reader, there is little that stands out to differentiate each page. This makes it visually difficult for a young reader to understand what is changing in the story.
This particular book is aged for 0-3, But I think 1-3 is more accurate. The handles on this book open to form a steering wheel so the reader can feel as though they are driving the truck. Our Little Worn Pages won’t be able to hold the book and interact with it as is intended for a few months still. Parents can interact with the book to teach the little ones, and there’s certainly a lot to make this particular board book fun, but I don’t think it’s as engaging for my 4 month old as it will be when he’s older. Right now, there’s too much happening visually in this book, and he doesn’t yet comprehend how to engage with the “interactive” features in order to get the most out of what this book offers.
Happy reading!
Worn Pages and Ink 