by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 10, 2010

The book's jacket jokes that though Maira Kalman "gets seasick quite easily, she plans to sail away on a tugboat with family and friends...to distant lands and far-off places." It's the proper spirit for a children's book author/illustrator - and especially for a story about a boat! But "Fireboat" also shows Kalman has a good sense of history. Instead of a story, she's written a non-fiction children's book about a legendary ship serving New York's fire department, and the city it protected. But she'll also re-visit a very dark day in 2001...

"Amazing things were happening," Kalman begins, writing about the year 1931 - starting with the fact that the Empire State Building "went up up up." There's a breezy spirit in both the words and the pictures, with bright, simple drawings focusing on what were playful milestones for ordinary people in the city (like new candies and slang at a night club). She notes Babe Ruth's 611th home run, and the premier of the world's first Snickers candy bar. And while describing the Empire State Building, she places the last two "ups" higher on the page, near the clouds at the top of the skyscraper!

It all creates a context for her story about the fireboat. Using the same style, she switches to illustrations of the ship's equipment - like a firehouse, brass nozzles, knotted rope and a steering wheel. Then she draws pictures of the "brave group" of firefighters who served as the ship's firefighting crew - including a Dalmatian named Smokey. And then the illustrations transition gracefully to the ship's moments in history - including fighting New York pier fires, celebrating the Statue of Liberty, and fighting a famous 1942 fire on the S.S. Normandie.

It's a book about New York - by a woman who's a part of the city. Besides blogging for the New York Times, Kalman also illlustrated covers for the New Yorker. (Wikipedia tells us that she emigrated to New York City with her family from Israel at the age of 4.) She proudly celebrates the volunteers who restored the retire ship to operation in 1995. And it's inevitable that she'll add one more historical moment.

"...on September 11, 2001 something so huge and horrible happened that the whole world shook."

It must've been cathartic for Kalman to write out the book's darkest section.  (Two airplanes "CRASHED, CRASHED, CRASHED into these two strong buildings....") There's a horrific two-page drawing showing a massive cloud of grey debris billowing down from the top of a tower - then another showing fire sweeping ground zero, and then another, showing that same fire at night. But Kalman does also share more comforting thoughts about the response from the people of New York City. The mayor says "We will all work together" - and soon even the volunteer crew of the John J. Harvey would be spraying water day and night to fight the flames.

The book was published in August of 2002, and Kalman records the tragedy simply. ("Many people were hurt. Many lives were lost...") But the historical details in the book seem intended to place the September 11 attacks into a larger perspective. And the days that followed the attack are represented by reminding readers of the fireboat's proud crew. At least a few readers still complained on Amazon that the 9/11 section gave the story an overwhelming shift. ("Thanks for making me cry me head off in front of my child!" wrote one, while another added "Talk about switching gears!") In the end the book is only partly about the fireboat, its volunteers, and New York. Its story finds its way to a much more painful memory.

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.