Rescue Squad No. 9

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About Rescue Squad No. 9

Product Description In this companion book to Fire Engine No. 9, Rescue Squad No. 9 must spring into action when a young sailor and her dog are stranded during a storm!   Follow the crew as they scramble aboard their helicopter and speedboat, racing to the rescue through the waves and winds. The high action is communicated through minimal sound words and bold, graphic art reminiscent of that in Donald Crews’s transportation books. From School Library Journal PreS-Gr 1—In this water-based follow-up to his well-received Fire Engine No. 9, Austin once again employs onomatopoeia and repetitive vocabulary to emphasize the story's action. The oversize, subtly italicized graphic typeface draws readers into and propels them through the narrative. A boy and his dog are caught on a sailboat in a storm. Every visual component—a boat, a windsock, the rescue workers—is firmly rooted to the page, almost static, yet Austin's use of brushwork and color for the background creates a sense of urgency and dynamism, the visual contradiction adding to the excitement. This title relies on color and simple images to convey the drama of a water rescue and the importance of the teams that do that work, from the visceral jolt of the illustrated glossary on the endpapers to the water safety information page at the end of this story. VERDICT A brilliant little book not just for emergency services fans. Highly recommended.—Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School, Providence Review Following Fire Engine No. 9 (2015), Austin looks at maritime emergency vehicles.In Austin' s second No. 9 book, the youngest readers find a gripping, exciting ocean rescue conducted by a mixed-race, mixed-gender team using intriguing vehicles and tools: helicopter and boat, with assists from the lighthouse and trucks on the dock. The crew seems to be going through its ordinary duties when the weather changes and a distress call comes in. The text is minimal: words repeat and appear in typeface that increases in size to convey urgency: "MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! // GO! GO! GO!" Bold, graphically splashy artwork captures the stormy, swelling sea and the rescue in motion. A sailboat has crashed against rocks with a sailor and dog on board. Dramatic tension is heightened when horizontal scenes switch to vertical when the helicopter drops the Billy Pugh basket to pick up the stranded boaters. Never heard that term before? Don't worry: endpapers feature the pieces of equipment and their names. All's well that ends well. The squad gets the duo safely to shore as the sun comes out. An endnote includes tips for caregivers on water safety, and readers already savvy about the subject will be pleased to see that both the sailor and the dog are wearing life jackets. "Hooray! Hooray!" (Picture book. 2-5) — Kirkus Reviews (Starred Reivew) 6/1/16 The first responders assembled at their coastal headquarters are keeping watch from the lighthouse, tidying up the rescue boat, and loading medical supplies into the helicopter when a storm hits and the distress call comes in: “SOS . . . MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!” Then it’s “GO! GO! GO!” as the teams scurry into action. The helicopter takes off into the blackening sky and the boat speeds off into the chop. “HELP! HELP!” and “BARK! BARK! BARK!” cry the woman and her dog, their sailboat run aground. The helicopter rescuer splashes down and assists the pair into a basket, which lifts them up to safety; as the storm begins to dissipate, the boat picks up the rescuer and tows the sailboat back to port. Disaster is averted, and in a satisfying dénouement, the Rescue 9 team struts its gear and the grateful boaters fly a banner reading “Thank you, Rescue Squad No. 9” at the annual regatta. The limited vocabulary text, with bold font and repeated words, will be a lure for emergent readers. However, the real payoffs are for the kids who like to inspect pictures carefully—catching the newspaper article warning of the big storm to come, watchin