Elephant Joe, Brave Firefighter!

K-Gr 2—Elephant Joe and Zebra Pete are hiding from their friend Dragon at summer camp. They are trying to surprise him for his birthday. Instead, "Dragon was so surprised, he flew up a tree!" and gets stuck in the branches. The story continues through large panels as Joe and Pete rescue Dragon by becoming firefighters. Each frame creates excitement as they get uniforms, and a fire truck, all to help disentangle Dragon. The story flows well and will entertain new readers as Dragon gets rescued and can finally celebrate his birthday. However when Dragon gets ready to blow out his candles, he "breathes fire instead!" Elephant Joe attempts to put out the fire with a hose but is informed "There are no hydrants in the forest," so Elephant Joe must use his trunk to save the day. Speech bubbles and captions create emphasis for the easy text as spirited characters inhabit each page. Cartoon illustrations are playful and bold; fans Giles Andreae's Rumble in the Jungle and Commotion in the Ocean (both Tiger Tales, 2001) will be drawn to the merry characters.