Firefighter Duckies!

Fresh out of the bathtub, three firefighter duckies careen from one wacky rescue mission to the next. First up: "gorillas in chef hats!" Actually, just one gorilla, whose hat is on fire--thanks, undoubtedly, to the irritated-looking cupcake with lit candle on top. With a page-turn, the crisis is averted. The gorilla says, "Thanks, guys!" via a speech balloon while its hat smolders and the now-soggy cupcake continues to frown. With no time for pleasantries, the Duckies speed off on their self-driving fire truck to the scenes of more emergencies: "They are the Firefighter Duckies! They are brave. They are strong. They rescue...Whales in trees!" Dormer's outrageous plot relies on his comical digitally rendered illustrations to fill in what the well-paced text leaves out. In contrast to the amped-up text, the cartoon drawings feature relatively uncomplicated compositions on clean backgrounds, helping to contain the chaos. By the time they're confronted with rampaging centipedes and hairy monsters, the intrepid Duckies are overwhelmed and tuckered out. With things still out of control, the Duckies change their tactics, and eventually the grateful characters tuck their rescuers into bed (though the antics continue on the last page). Brave and strong are well and good, but helpfulness and kindness can save the day, too. kitty Flynn