Dot the fire dog

My son was bombarded with firetrucks and anything related as his daddy is a firefighter. Out of all the things he has received (minus a couple of motorized firetrucks), he loves this book. We read it almost daily and he can tell me all about Dot, the firetruck, the firemen and all the activities happening in the fire station. It was one of the best gifts we received.

My two-year old son adores this book. We first found this book at our local library and had to renew several times before I finally bought it. It's one of his bedtime favorites. The story is about Dot the Fire Dog. It follows her through a day at the firehouse, where she sleeps by the fire fighters big rubber boots while the fire fighters are relaxing. The fire bell rings and everyone dashes off to a house fire. The fire an saves a sick old man and Dot herself is hero as she saves a kitten from the burning building. This book is truly a delight and educational too. On the last page, Fire Dog Dot offers several fire safety tips including who to call and what to do if there's a fire.

I bought this book for my two and a half year old daughter because her grandmother has a dalmation named Duchess who she adores. When I read the book I just change Dot to Duchess and she loves it. She asks me to read it to her every day. The text is simple enough for her to follow and she enjoys finding the dog on each page. I think it is also good that the fire is not too scary and the part where the dog saves the kitten is really cute. My daughter also has developed a love of fire engines (what kid doesn't love them) so all in all I think she really enjoys this book. What bothers me is the illustrations. The dog is okay but the people look like they were poorly drawn by grade schoolers. I find the androygenous faces kind of creepy. It doesn't seem to bother my daughter though and I don't find annoying having to read this book over and over again to her. I would have given this book five stars if it had better illustrations.