FIREBOAT: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey

I listened to the audio recording, narrated by Judd Hirsch. This is the true story of the fireboat John J. Harvey which was launched in the 1930s, fell into disrepair, and was refurbished by a group of friends in the 1990s. When the World Trade Center towers were attacked, the John J. Harvey was

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put into use once again, helping scores of other workers put out the fires. The bright pictures are a visual treat and the narration and sound effects make this one a great listen. (Be wary if you listen while driving and are likely to tear up when they talk about 9-11.) This book was on the Monarch Award master list for 2008.

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This story is about a retired boat that was re-purposed when tragedy struck. A well presented book including a look at the Twin Towers tragedy and still a happy ending. This book could help to enable discussions about 9/11. Good for grades 1-4.

This is another awesome Maira Kalman book; this time she tackles the story of the John J. Harvey, a retired fireboat that got called back into service during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The illustrations are very vibrant; the thickness of the paint evokes an interesting texture. The

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double-page spread of the John J. Harvey fighting the fire amidst the tangled mess of the destroyed buildings is especially interesting. Sometimes her style is quite sketched-in rather than full-on illustrated; other times she gets very detaily and precise.

This is an interesting angle through which to explore the September 11 attacks. I also learned a little about the history of fireboats! I think the book would work well in a classroom setting when discussing the history of September 11.

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Kalman begins Fireboat by discussing all the wonderful things that happened in New York beginning in 1931. The story builds up the building of the John J. Harvey fireboat. It told of how spectacular it was and all the years of hard work it had. When it was about to be turned into scrap metal, a

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group of people went in together and had it refurbished to be just like new. They actually drove it in the Hudson. Then the story takes a dramatic turn. The illustrations stop and a black page states the events of 9/11. The crew of the John J. Harvey volunteered to everything they could, but the fire department said they could only ferry peaple out of the area. But then there were problems with water pipes and lines and the fire department needed all the help they could get. The John J. Harvey and its crew worked for 4 days and nights fighting the fires at Ground Zero. After all the work they did, the John J. Harvey and its crew were awarded the National Preservation Award.
I thought this book did a spectacular job in addressing the events of 9/11 from a positive perspective. So many things we see about this terrible day tell of the pain and destruction, but this book focused on how people were quick to help.
I would use this book on the anniversary of 9/11. After discussing everything that happened on that eventful day, I would read this book to show that positive things happened on that day as well. And that if those positive things hadn't happened, the day would have been much worse.

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The fireboat John J. Harvey was put out of commission when the city didn't need old fireboats anymore. When the tragedy of 9/11 happened, however, the John J. Harvey was called into action to help put out the fires in and around the Twin Towers.

This book told a whole new side to the story of 9/11.

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The illustrations were vibrant and breathtaking. The suddenness with which they changed after the planes hit the towers was stunning. It is a great book.

This would be a very good book to use to initiate discussions about the 9/11 tragedy.

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Loved this--thought it was sad though, and kind of upsetting for little children, but if they lived through 9/11, it's a good treatment of a terrible topic.

The best book about the September 11th terrorist attacks published for children has been reissued. Nearly scrapped by new York City in 1995, the fireboat John J. Harvey was called in to help put out the fires at the World Trade Center site.

This book is pretty close to perfect. The illustrations, and reserach, the text. All of it is pretty well perfect. I've seen it used in lessons on teaching writing and I've certainly seen it read aloud when discussing 9/11 since it is such a proud reflection of a few of the heroes involved in that

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tragic event. It's tough to look at the book even today, but this is really an outstanding picture book that deserved to be read.

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The main idea of “Fireboat” by Maira Kalman is to tell the heroic story of a retired tugboat as it saves the lives of many people during the tragedy of September 11th, 2001. I really enjoyed this story because it came from a unique perspective. Many stories surrounding September 11th are very

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depressing, recalling the events in a chronological, historical way. “Fireboat” told the familiar story of the Twin Towers falling, however it spun the story to make it a story of pride with the heroic tugboat. I also really enjoyed this story because of the historical context that it gave in the beginning of the book. For example, it says “snickers hit the stores,” “Babe Ruth hit his 611th home run,” and the empire state building and the George Washington Bridge were built when the John J. Harvey fireboat launched. This historical context gives children that were not born during this time period a sense of what was going on.

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I enjoyed reading this biography book. First, I liked the illustrations in this book. The colors used in the artwork were bright and vivid which really got me as a reader interested in reading the book. The bright and vivid colors used in the illustrations really brought the story alive. Second, I

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liked that the author used personification in describing the boat to make the book feel more like a biography. For example, the author explains that on September 11, 2001 the boat “came out of retirement.” The main message of this story is to inform about the life of the John J. Harvey.

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This book did not interest me too much, but that tends to happen with informational or biography books. I do not have much to go off of in regards to why I did not like the book, it was decent about giving information on the boat that helped people during the 9/11 attack.

This was the true story about a fireboat named the John J Harvey. The boat was retired, but it was recommissioned to fight the fires are ground zero on September 11th.

This is a historical fiction novel about the John J. Harvey fireboat. It begins by talking about all the amazing things that were happening in New York during 1931, one of those including the launching of the John J. Harvey fireboat. This boat was something special, of the 12 fireboats in New York

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City it was the best. During its time the boat travelled around the river putting out on fire at a time. However, over time the Harvey began to be considered useless so for five years it sat next to the pier waiting to be sold. One group of friends came up with a brilliant idea to redo and save the Harvey. Many people doubted the Harvey's ability to be used to put out fires. Then one day airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers. On that day the Harvey was used as a main source for water (many pipes had bursted in the attack). For four days they fought the fires of the 9/11 attacks. The John J. Harvey was a hero and received many awards for it's heroism.

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