Fire

It has been noted that Marshak's poems for children are filled with fire. The whole matter is that in early childhood, the boy and his family experienced a fire in their own home. The writer said that his very first... vivid childhood memory is of the fire consuming the curtains, his mother quickly and anxiously dressing him, and an incomprehensible feeling of a very deep fear. In Marshak's poems, we will often encounter fire. After all, he always approached it with caution and tried to convey this caution and attentiveness to children.
Indeed, the theme of fire and fire is one of the most attractive and mesmerizing for children. In their understanding, a firefighter is the most heroic profession, and a fire truck is created for dangerous and noble adventures. That is why S. Marshak's book "Fire" with illustrations by V. Konashevich has been published 28 times, starting in 1923. It has not become outdated, has not left the stage, and continues to live in the old and new pictures by its best illustrator Vladimir Konashevich.
Before you is the last updated version by the authors, which was released in 1952. Now the action of the book takes place against the backdrop of a modern city: fire trucks have replaced fire carriages, and multi-storey buildings have grown in place of single-storey houses. While re-illustrating "Fire," Konashevich carefully observed the work of the fire depot in Leningrad, asked firefighters questions, and meticulously sketched new machines. But both in the text and in the picture, there remained a curious detail that has long disappeared from modern firefighting, the meaning of which should be explained to children: by the number of signal balls that the lookout raised over the tower, they judged the intensity of the fire and the approximate direction of the place of ignition.
Light rhyme, an engaging plot, and expressive colorful drawings allow us to consider "Fire" by Marshak and Konashevich an unmatched masterpiece of literature "for little ones." Such an edition of "Fire" (like, in fact, all of Marshak's children's works with illustrations by V.M. Konashevich) is a must-have for all children and their parents.
Recommended for parents to read aloud to younger preschool children, as well as for examining and discussing the pictures.