Fire Chief Fran

K-Gr 2–Less than 10 percent of firefighters are women. Even fewer are fire chiefs. Readers can count Fire Chief Fran, a Black woman, among that small, illustrious number. In this book, Fire Chief Fran and her crew tackle many incidents during one busy day in a small town. A cafe catches fire, a puppy gets stuck in a fence, a tree branch falls. There is little downtime. Firefighters must put out fires, perform rescues, and administer first aid. Ashman’s text is serviceably crisp, but a few rhythmic blips will trip up readers performing the book aloud. A highlight and saving grace is how the same verse repeats when the alarm bells go off throughout the day. This repetition, much like the clanging of the alarm bell, does a great job alerting readers to an emergency. Carpenter’s illustrations are digitally enhanced acrylic paintings, using a predominantly primary color palette: red fire truck, yellow turnout gear, navy blue shirts. In addition to Fire Chief Fran, other firefighters are depicted with a variety of skin tones, genders, and ages. Back matter provides a comprehensive look at firefighting as a profession, including the statistics. Ashman concisely answers many questions young readers may ask, including how quickly firefighters must get ready and what they do when they’re not responding to emergency calls.