Little Red Fire Truck
Little Red Fire Truck
by ReadRead · 4 min readNee-naw, nee-naw! Ruby to the rescue! A little fire truck, a stuck kitten, a ladder that gets stuck too, and a girl with a good idea.
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Ruby is a little red fire truck with a long silver ladder. One morning Hana comes running: her kitten Button is stuck up in a tall tree! Nee-naw, nee-naw, Ruby races to the park. But when she lifts her ladder, it bumps a big branch and gets stuck too. Hana has an idea.
The new words in this book
To help someone who is in trouble and bring them safely out. It comes up 7 times, and every time Ruby’s siren flashes and her silver ladder swings up to help.
Held in one place and not able to move or get out. It comes up 7 times: Button shakes on the branch, Ruby’s ladder catches on a branch and will not move, and a kite wobbles in the leaves.
The two words come as a pair you can see: first something is stuck, then Ruby comes to the rescue. The refrain “Nee-naw, nee-naw! Ruby to the rescue!” comes back so a child can say it along. Every other word is a common word, like truck, ladder, tree, kitten, branch and town.
Questions to ask while you read
Pause after each spread and ask one question. There are no right answers; the point is to get your child talking.
- 1What does Ruby have to help people?
- 2Why is Hana running? How does she feel?
- 3Who waves to Ruby as she races through the town?
- 4Where is Button? Why doesn’t Button come down?
- 5What happened to Ruby’s ladder?
- 6What is Hana’s idea? Would you have thought of it?
- 7How does Button get down?
- 8What else is stuck in the town?
- 9Tap each stuck thing, and Ruby will rescue it!
- 10Who helps in your town? Have you ever helped someone?
How hard is this book?
About 300 words, longer sentences, more different words.
- Dialogue × 9“Meow! Meow!”
- Commands × 2“Come down, Button! You are not stuck now!”
- Not / no × 4“Oh no! Now my ladder is stuck, too!”
- Past tense × 11Hooray! Ruby saved them all!
- Will / going to × 2Ruby pushes and pulls, but the ladder will not move.
- Contractions × 1“Don’t worry, Hana. Ruby to the rescue!”
- Bigger / biggest × 1“Thank you, Ruby! You are the best rescue truck!”
All 124 words, most used first
the 17 · a 15 · ladder 11 · up 9 · and 8 · to 8 · is 7 · stuck 7 · naw 6 · nee 6 · down 5 · you 5 · are 4 · in 4 · town 4 · branch 3 · her 3 · hooray 3 · little 3 · meow 3 · now 3 · on 3 · step 3 · thank 3 · too 3 · back 2 · big 2 · but 2 · come 2 · comes 2 · everyone 2 · goes 2 · help 2 · high 2 · it 2 · my 2 · not 2 · one 2 · purr 2 · small 2 · tree 2 · truck 2 · will 2 · again · all · anyone · asleep · at · ball · balloon · barks · bell · best · bit · bump · can · cars · curls · did · dog · don't · each · falls · fire · for · free · gets · go · has · hat · here · hits · hugs · i · job · kite · kitten · lifts · long · look · looks · morning · move · needs · next · no · oh · other · park · poor · pulls · pushes · races · red · right · rolls · ruby's · running · saved · say · scared · shiny · silver · slides · stop · street · sun · sunny · tall · tap · teddy · them · then · things · this · through · tight · try · walks · waves · what · who · with · worry
Names don’t count: the picture shows who it is.
Tips for parents
- First time: use Read to me and let your child just listen and watch.
- Act the words: hold very still and wiggle for stuck, then swing an arm up like a ladder for rescue.
- On the playing page, let your child say “Stuck!” before each tap and “Rescue!” as the ladder goes up.
- Talk about the problem on the ladder page: when something is stuck, stop, go back a little and try again.