Books for Boys

Whiting, S. (2008). The Firefighters. Singapore: Candlewick Press


ISBN # 978-0-7636-4019-4

This book explains how firefighters work in their field. There are three children and one teacher that are pretending to be firefighters. They were trying to extinguish a picture of a fire with hoses on the wall. While they were finishing up with their firefighter game, they heard real sirens of the fire engines. The Fire fighters make a visit to the children and they tell them stories on how they fight fires and rescue people from burning buildings. The firefighters pretend there a is fire so that the children learn how to respond to a fire and move fast if the situation were to come up.

I would choose this book for three to five year olds as they can learn how firefighters work and learn what their tasks and duties are. It also helps children realize the dangers and hazards of a fire and that it must be avoided at all times.

The illustrations are big in size so that children are able to see the pictures clearly and understand them better. The illustrator, Donna Rawlins uses water painting in this book which is familiar to children. The illustrations of this story are so colorful making it fun and exciting for children to look at while reading. Children can enjoy the illustrations because there are three little children illustrations on the book, this may make them feel like they are part of the story by imagining themselves to be the little children in the book.

A great way of provoking interest and building background before presenting this book, would be to make pictures of fire engines that could be shown to children and letting them know what fire engines do and also allowing them to draw or paint pictures of their curiosity of fire engines as well. Also, I would invite a firefighter to come show what his duties and tasks are as a firefighter, so children may be curious and may wonder about fire fighters and they may want to know what kind of person they are.

I would like to stop at page 17 of the book as there is the use of a lifelike sounding fire engine. So children may wonder if there is a real fire fighter coming up on the next page. I would like to ask children, “Do you think it is the real sound of an engine or are the three children just pretending to be like the real ones?


Three ways to present The Firefighters:

-I would use a felt board story. I would use felt to make a firefighter, three children dressed up like firefighters and a teacher. The felt story could be either purchased or making these pictures out of felt using the illustrations of the book would be another option. The felt story will help children see the story in a different view making it more interesting for them to learn more about firefighters.

-I can present this story by covering the illustration on the front cover so children can be curious and they can also guess what the book is about. This will help them to think for themselves and create their own story of what they think the book is about.

-It would be good and effective to practice the different character’s voices in the book so that children can enjoy the book while I am reading and it will make it easier for them to follow along and enjoy the book. They will also be able to develop their imagination and their thoughts on how the firefighters may look and sound like in real life.


Three possible extensions:

-Trying to find a short clip of a video about fire fighters so children can really see that what they are doing for us. Also, children can apply the picture of the books into the real life situations.

-Bringing in some items that sound like a fire engine so they can practice what they need to do when the fire alarm goes off. When they notice the sound of the fire engine, they can notice that some places are on fire. Also, the children can pretend to be and play like fire fighters when the bell rings.

-Arranging a field trip to a fire station where children would be able to explore, learn and understand better how firefighters work at the station and how they respond to emergencies.








London, J. (2010). I’m a truck driver. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC


ISBN # 978-0-8050-7989-0

This book shows the different kinds of trucks that we see on the streets. It explains what each truck does and how they function. Also, the book contains sounds of the trucks so children can learn different sounds and learn what kind of work trucks do. The font sizes of the words are big so that children can see the words clearly.

I would choose this book for 3-5 year olds as the words used in this book are very simple making it easier for children to understand and enjoy. They can learn about lots of different kinds of trucks and what they each can do. I think this book is especially good for boys because they love trucks.

The sizes of the illustrations are big so children can recognize what the pictures represent right away. Also, the pictures of the trucks are so colorful and bright that it makes it very interesting and fascinating for children to look at and wonder about.

Before reading the story, I would like to bring some toy trucks so that children can get interested in the trucks by moving and playing with them. This would help in building background information about the book and provoking interest in them. Children may have lots of questions about what the trucks do. Also, I would like to take them to a construction site so that they can see what the trucks do. They already may have knowledge of trucks before the story so they will have lots of questions and wonders.

I would like to stop at each page as each page introduces different kinds of trucks. I would like to ask children what kind of sounds they think each truck would make.


Three ways to present I’m a Truck Driver

-I would use a felt story board and I would need lots of pieces of felt trucks. I can draw out the trucks onto the felt using the illustrations of the trucks on the book. The illustrations are so big and clear that it would be easy to draw them out.

-Recording the different sounds of the trucks would be another way to provoke children’s interest in trucks. while I am reading the book the children would listen to the sounds of the trucks and they will be curious and have many wonders as to how the sounds relate to each truck.

-I can use a puppet that could be a truck driver or even anyone else, to recite the story of the trucks to the children. This will be another good way for children to understand the story in a different way.


Three possible extensions:

-Drawing or painting trucks activities. The children can draw their own truck and they can explain what these trucks do.

-I would like to bring some pictures of trucks and I could ask the children what they think these trucks are doing and what kind of sounds do they each have.

-Acting out the trucks activities. For example, children could pretend to be a garbage truck driver or a forklift driver and they can act out what each truck does and the sounds each make.








Yolen, J. (2000). How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?:An Imprint of Scholastic Inc. New York: Scholastic.



ISBN # 0-590-31681-8


This story is about how dinosaurs say good night to their mother and father. In the story there is a mother and a father who are human and who are dinosaurs. When the father and mother enter the room where the dinosaurs are staying, they try turning off the light to see how the Dinosaurs sleep.

I would choose this book for 3-5 year olds as the words are easy to understand and the size of the font is big making it fun and exciting for children to look at. The illustrations are great so that children can have fun looking at them while the story is being read. Children love being curious about dinosaurs and this book definitely helps them to be imaginative. There are lots of different kinds of dinosaurs in the book, so children may think about what kinds of dinosaurs are in the book and that they like most.

The illustrations are done by water colors which give the pictures a very different and unique effect. The illustrations are big and colorful so that children may pay close attention to the story and enjoy the story while it’s being read. The illustrations of the dinosaurs on each page are very different, this will help children in being more curious about what the next dinosaur is going to look like.

Before reading the story, I would like to bring some dinosaur toys to the classroom so children can become familiar with the dinosaurs and they’ll be able to play with them. Also, I like to show real dinosaur pictures so that children may be able to enjoy and become more aware about the story that’s about to be read.

While I am reading this book to children, I would like to stop at questions such as how does a dinosaur say good night when papa and mama come in to turn of the light? (p1, p12) I would like to use a wondering voice so that children may become curious as to how Dinosaurs say good night.

Three ways to present How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

-I would like to do felt board story because children would like to see dinosaurs in felt pieces as a clearer and bigger visual. I would need different kinds of dinosaur pieces that could either be hand drawn and cut out or bought at stores.

-I would like to show a short movie or video clip so that children may really want to know about the dinosaurs even after reading the story more than once.

-I could bring some Dinosaur puppets or dolls so while I read the story, I could use the puppets or dolls this will give the children a more lifelike experience of the story.


Three possible extensions:

-I would allow the children to draw pictures of dinosaurs so that they can be creative with their drawings and that will allow them to think about the story more.

-I would like to have a discussion with the children on how they would respond or react if they saw a real life dinosaur. This will help them in being imaginative and also being able to express themselves and their thoughts on the story.

-The children can also pretend to be the dinosaurs, when I ask them what will happen if I turned off some lights in the room. They could act like the dinosaurs in the book and create shadows with the lights.