Poinsettia and the Firefighters

Poinsettia and the Firefighters

By: Felicia Bond

Grade: Preschool- 1^st

Genre: Animal Fantasy

Have you ever heard noises in your house that scared you? Have you ever been afraid of the dark? In the book Poinsettia and the Firefighters by Felicia Bond, we follow Poinsettia as she overcomes her fear of the dark and having her own room.

One day Poinsettia’s father asked Poinsettia if she would like her own room. He told her that he had fixed the two rooms on the top floor, one for Poinsettia and one for her sister Petunia. All of Poinsettia’s siblings bet that she would be afraid to sleep up there by herself, but Poinsettia bet them that she wouldn’t. Poinsettia moved all of her belongings into her new room. She loved her new room! She played in it all day, but finally the time came for her to shut off her lights and go to bed. When she shut off her light, she realized how dark it was in her room exclaiming, “I can’t even see my hoof in front of my face.” Then she started to hear noises. Frightened by the noises she heard she ran into her sister Petunia’s room. Petunia explained what each of the noises that Poinsettia heard were.  But soon, Petunia fell asleep and Poinsettia was the only one awake, and she was scared. She stayed up all night, waiting to see the sun in her window. Finally she saw a light outside but it wasn’t the sun, it was a fire on the telephone wire outside of her house. Poinsettia woke up her parents and they called the firefighters. The firefighters arrived and put out the fire and Poinsettia asked if their call had woken them up. The firefighter explained that he was awake because he is a night watchman. Poinsettia said that she was a night watchman too. The next night Poinsettia went to her room to go to bed and realized it was not as dark as it was the night before. She looked out her window and could see the light from the fire station through the trees. “I’m not the only one awake” Poinsettia said. Even though there were noises that night, Poinsettia did not hear them. She was able to fall fast asleep and sleep through the whole night in her new room.

I like this book because young students can easily relate to Poinsettia. Most children are afraid when they have to sleep in a room by themselves for the first time. I remember as a child hearing noises in my house that scared me and kept me awake. Students can relate to Poinsettia and see how she overcame her fear of sleeping alone in the dark and maybe it could help them overcome their own fears. It also can be used to teach children about fire safety and what they should do if they see a fire. I also like the illustrations in this book. Poinsettia makes many facial expressions that can show the students how she is feeling during the story. The illustrations work well with the storyline and give you an idea of what the characters are feeling.

Poinsettia and the Firefighters by Felicia Bond can be used to teach children how to face and overcome their fears. It can also be used to help children get an idea of how the character in the story is feeling through words and illustrations. Teachers can also use this book to talk about fire safety and that if you see a fire you should alert an adult and call the fire department. This book would really relate well with younger students. Poinsettia and the Firefighters can be used to meet the Massachusetts ELA framework craft and structure (6), Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (7) and (9).