Park Rangers (Community Helpers)

Long: Mary Firestone has written more than thirty children’s books. Her books have been recommended by the National Science Teacher Association, and she has received a Best Writing in the Arts award from the Minneapolis Neighborhood Press Association. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and is currently acquiring her teaching license in Language Arts. Mary currently lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with her son Adam and their cat Rigley. Their home is near the Mississippi River park system where they spend time outdoors riding bikes and soaking up the wonders of local wildlife. Short: Mary Firestone has written more than 30 children’s books. Her books have been recommended by the National Science Teacher Association, and she has received a Best Writing in the Arts award from the Minneapolis Neighborhood Press Association. Mary and her son, Adam, love riding their bikes near their St. Paul, Minnesota, home. Their cat, Rigley, waves from the window.

Reviewed with Mary Firestone's School Secretaries.

K-Gr. 3. Expanding the definition of community helpers beyond the usual suspects (doctors, police officers, firefighters), these books in the Community Helpers series focus on park rangers and school secretaries. A few lines of text in large type appear on each right-hand page facing a full-page, color photo showing the helper at work. Although the vocabulary includes many long words, the sentences tend to be short and their structure, monotonously similar. Park Rangers takes a look at the wide variety of the rangers' responsibilities and activities. School Secretaries discusses their training, skills, tools, and job responsibilities. The illustrations in Rangers are more varied and natural than those in Secretaries, which feature posed subjects who gamely smile even while engaged in mundane tasks such as sorting mail and opening doors. Each book ends with brief lists of defined words, books, and Internet sites and a hands-on activity. Utilitarian. Carolyn Phelan
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