PB - The Abaleda Voluntary Firehouse Band (by Dianne Young)

Hardcover
21.3 x 21.3 cm (8.25 x 8.25 in)
Illustrated by Barbara Hartmann

“This is a picture book par excellence. While the [rhyming] text introduces the seven members of the Abaleda Voluntary Firehouse Band, and their instruments, Hartmann’s fine watercolors not only portray these characters, but they also follow the adventures of a hapless little mouse, unmentioned in the text, returning home from the library to make a hot cup of tea. When the mouse’s house fills with smoke from the kettle gone dry, the firefighters are beckoned. The mouse’s picture story erupts into the firehouse crew’s word-and-picture world with the ringing of the telephone. The two stories are joined as the gallant band members come to the mouse’s rescue.”

Kathy Corrigan, Canadian Book Review Annual