The review
We were gifted this book about firemen by a pair of lovely sisters earlier this year and introduced Foolet to the world of lift-the-flap books! There is no turning back for our wallets.
Originally in French, this book details the profession, from the fire station setup, attire, various heroic scenes and lots of different vehicles used to put out fires big and small.
The aspiring fireman in our family enjoyed this book immensely. The interactive flaps are very well-designed, allowing them to build motor skills thanks to the variety of ways you can interact with them. You can pull them out, slide them, lift them and more. I did like how some of the designs were quite good at showing cause and effect, eg connecting the hose to the fire hydrant meant that water could pump through the hose to put out the fire.
You'll also be able to pick up lots of useful vocabulary through the many labels dotting the book as well. The book is pretty sturdy and the flaps are quite easy to use and can tolerate a toddler's strength, though you might want to pay closer attention with some of the sliders as they might be easily ripped out by a strong little one.
I discovered quite organically that Foolet has become quite good at storytelling through the use of these books. In a particular scene in the book, a fireman climbed up his ladder to rescue a young child, we used this to pretend a situation where he could call SCDF and report that he needed help. This involved a pretty complicated pretend play from learning our home address to using a telephone and what number to call the fire station.