The True Story of Nick the Firedog with Fire Safety Tips

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Timothy P. Dexter, Jr. and will receive a small stipend for this review. All opinions are my own.

When you hear firehouse dog, I am guessing you don't think about a pit bull. Today I get to share with you a fun new picture book about a firedog who is a pit bull!! This sweet picture book is fun and introduces pet care as well as fire safety to young children. The book is The True Story of "Nick the Firedog" by Timothy Dexter, Jr. 

Parenting Resource Book to Help Discuss Sexual Abuse and Have a Plan

Today I am going to share a book I found recently. Now I do not remember where I saw it and cannot find the original place I saw it in the last month, but this is a must read to your young children. The book is I Said No!: A Kid-to-Kid Guide to Keeping Private Parts Private by Zack and Kimberly King. This book came about after Zack and his sister slept over their best friends' house while their mother dealt with an emergency with the baby. The house was right next door and they had known the neighbors for years. Zack was in kindergarten. Yes, in kindergarten like Hazel. Zack's best friend tried to get Zack to show him his private parts and also tried to get Zack to touch the friend's privates. He used bribery, peer pressure, and threatened to not be his friend anymore to get what he wanted. Zack told the mother and she told them to go to bed. He told his sister and she talked to the mother and again he was sent into the room with the boy. He eventually came up with the solution of staying in the bathroom and telling them he was sick to his stomach. Kimberly is a kindergarten teacher and thought she had prepared her children for any situation they might find themselves in, but she had not expected a kindergartener to use bribery, threats and such. Writing this book together helped the family heal and be able to move past this horrible experience. It is also written as five-year-old Zack is talking to the child reading it. It is very powerful.

Flamingo Friday--A Flamingo Book for Fire Prevention Week

Next week is Fire Prevention Week. I thought it would be fun to start our planning for the week with a flamingo book. Yes, they actually have a fire safety flamingo story. We are going back to the Miss Mingo series of books. You may remember we featured Miss Mingo and the First Day of School about a month ago or so. If you don't know the series, Miss Mingo is a classroom teacher and her class is a mix of many different types of animals. In each book you learn about all the animals. In the First Day of School one you learned what was special about each animal. In this one you learn about how the animals deal with being scared or how they defend themselves.

In Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill by Jamie Harper, the class goes through fire prevention week with a series of lessons and practicing what to do when the fire drill goes off. Their week starts with Chief Grizzly coming to visit the class and talk about what to do if you hear a fire drill--get out as quickly as possible and what to do if your clothes catch on fire--Stop! Drop! and Roll! The next day the class practices the route of the first emergency exit route. They are not very successful at following the rules of staying with their partner and being quiet. Miss Mingo warns them there will be a fire drill soon. Then on Thursday Hippo sneezes and they think it is the fire drill. Miss Mingo is having lunch in the teacher's lounge and the armadillo lunch monitor is with the class. Miss Mingo comes back to total chaos. However when the fire drill does happen the class pulls it together and does a great job and is the first class to be out and counted. It is a wonderful story to introduce a fire drill to children. 

After reading this story (and having a fire drill at school) Hazel wants us to have a fire drill at home. I am planning on doing this next week. If you look at the facts about fire at the National Fire Protection Association, you see that seven people a day die in the United States in a home fire. For this reason, we will practice and also review what is necessary to know. I also printed out some of the activities and safety checklists available at the National Fire Protection Association's site for kids. There is a lot there including games and more. There are also more ideas available at Scholastic. Some of their activities are done by grades so you can print out the appropriate ones for your children.

When I was buying a treat for Hazel, she picked out this stuffed flamingo at Joann Fabrics. She named it Miss Mingo after the books! 

What are your plans for Fire Prevention Week? Do you do fire drills with your family?