00003707

The graphics are attractive, colourful, with a poster-like reduplication vaguely reminiscent of Peter Max. The surrealistic pop-art effect of the two identical firemen -- there are different sizes of firefighter, fire truck, fire station and so on, but they do the exact same thing at the same time -- is only heightened by the complete lack of capitalization and the dearth of punctuation. There are no commas or end punctuation, except for a plethora of exclamation points: fire! fire! fire! A very odd book indeed.

If you object to the firemen rescuing fifteen "fat ladies" apiece, of appropriate size relative to the respective firemen, you might not care for the book. What sort of message is that supposed to convey, when fat ladies can't be proactive enough to save themselves by hopping out a ground floor window until a man arrives with a net? But by all reports, small children do like the book immensely. ( )

Compares the activities of a big fireman and a little fireman. Color fills the pages; basic shapes are used as much as possible. lots of green and red.