Wildfire Rescue: A Branches Book

Gr 1-3–In this new series, “Disaster Squad” siblings Jaden and Leela travel with their parents in an RV through several disaster areas, mainly focusing on wildfires in Northern California. While helping, the two kids get essential advice from their parents and the fire chief about preventing wildfires and staying as safe as possible during one. They learn useful skills, including wetting cloth to keep smoke out of your mouth. The focus on educational and kid-friendly realism may not appeal to all readers, but there are great fire safety tips and other useful bits of advice. Some action scenes, like Jaden and Leela trying to save a wild bear from a fire, add adventure. This particular encounter surprisingly sets this book apart as the parents call out the children’s behavior for being unsafe, stating that real heroes are prepared and trained—this is usually overlooked in similar books. The rest of the text focuses on real ways that kids can help in an actual disaster, like leaving out water for animals or making emergency packs for families. Numerous grayscale illustrations break up the text well, show the many action sequences, and highlight the diversity of the characters.