Title: Captain Conrad’s Safety Tips!
Author: Conrad M. Gonzales
Illustrator: Bonnie Lemaire
Publisher: Halo Publishing International
ISBN: 978-1-63765-519-1
Pages: 29
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book / Educational
Reviewer: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
Captain Conrad wears a red firefighter’s helmet, with a “CC” as the emblem, offering readers common sense tips on being safe – inside your house, outside when playing, and being aware of your surroundings. Author Conrad M. Gonzales, along with his illustrator Bonnie Lemaire, have created an inspiring and enjoyable book in which children will learn many safety tips.
Starting with checking smoke detectors in homes monthly, then offering advice on what to do if by accident you catch fire…”Drop and Roll”…and many other practical tips. Stay off train tracks, wear helmets when bicycling, and keep keenly aware on Halloween are some of the other tips. Good advice, well taken is the sign of an intelligent person, and Captain Conrad’s Safety Tips! is laden with sensible advice indeed. What readers will get are fun-filled poems, written with a song-like style and in a way which repetitive statements drill in the messages. The author also interleaves Spanish with English, appealing to a bilingual reading audience. This dual language publication enhances the scope of the audience to learn these pearls of wisdom.
One of my favorite passages is titled, “I Love You, Grandma and Grandpa.” It reads, “I love you, Grandma…and Grandpa, too. I want to see you live past one hundred two. I have a safety message, so please have a seat. This is for you, so listen to me, please.” It goes on to warn them about being careful with an open flame such as a candle, or even a space heater which can catch their robe on fire if they stand too close.
Captain Conrad’s Safety Tips! combines good common sense safety tips along with stylish text and expressive illustrations into an enjoyable book educating readers while entertaining them. It is best to be read aloud to youngsters with a musical theme while reading, singing the poems so to say, will make for many memorable moments of bonding as children won’t even know how much they are learning along the way. It is an ideal book for families with young children, and a must for kindergarten libraries worldwide. Yes, Captain Conrad is the right fictitious character to be authoritative and informative while teaching readers sensible safety tips, and this book makes it all fun.
Captain Conrad’s Safety Tips! is an excellent resource for teaching young children valuable life skills.
