New readers will be entertained over and over again by the antics of Dan, a fire station Dalmatian. Adorable Dan wants to be a good fire dog, but he has one teensy problem. Cookies! Peanut butter cookies, ginger snaps… Dan just loves cookies! In fact, Dan spends so much time eating cookies that he can’t seem to fulfill his fire dog duties. The Fire Chief is frustrated with Dan, but nothing seems to motivate the dog to step up to the plate. As things turn out, the firefighters go off to fight a fire and accidentally start a fire of their own. Nobody is there to stop the fire except Dan the Cookie Eating Fire Dog.
If you have any little aspiring firefighters at home, Lida Sideris has penned an adorable and motivating tale that is just perfect for them. I’m more of an aspiring cookie eater, and I certainly enjoyed The Cookie Eating Fire Dog. The watercolor-style illustrations are great for kids and really help the story to leap from the page to the imagination. The text layout and formatting lack refinement and are missing the visual appeal that many picture books offer. However, the lesson is solid, and as Dan learns the value of selfless acts, so will many young readers.
