Stop Drop And Roll

Little Jessica worries about everything: waking up in time for school, filling her dog's water dish, learning new steps in ballet, doing her spelling homework (she's not even sure how to spell "worry"--"Wurry"? "Werry"? "Worry"?). But now her teacher, Mr. Martin, has given her something new to fret about: It's Fire Prevention Week, and her class has to present what they're learning to the entire school. "'Oh, no,' moaned Jessica."

Author Margery Cuyler and illustrator Arthur Howard helped Jessica through her last tight spot in 100th Day Worries, and you can bet they'll see her through again--but not, of course, without a lot of hair-pulling. As the week passes, Jessica learns how to keep her home and family safe--"Smoke alarms! Sprinklers! Jessica had never seen either in her house"--and proceeds to pester everyone at the dinner table to get on the ball, planning escape routes and installing smoke detectors. But then Mr. Martin piles on more: rules about space heaters and matches and extension cords ("She'd never be able to remember so many things!").

But the real test comes when she has to memorize the biggest rule of them all, what to do if you catch fire--"Catch fire! Jessica had never been so worried in her life"--which she then has to demonstrate for the entire school! How can she possibly remember? "Flop, mop, and stroll? Stop, pop, and hole?" Only time will tell for this young worrywart, but readers will have fun finding out whether her memory fails her--and, of course, learn quite a bit about fire safety along the way. A fun and useful book, but be warned: if you're hoping to avoid an obnoxious inquisition at the dinner table, make sure you test your smoke alarms before you read this with your kid. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes