Kai to the Rescue!

As Kermit the Frog once noted, it’s not easy being green. For Kai, the new green pumper truck at the fire station, his diminutive size makes life even more complicated. “Good gracious, Kai! You’re so young and small!/ I really don’t think you can help us at all,” says Chuck, the hook and ladder truck. To his credit, Kai never stops believing in himself, and he gets a little support from the other two trucks on the team. He tries to fit in by coloring himself red with crayons, which gains him some approbation from the big trucks (“Very stylish!” says Rudy, the big pumper) but does nothing to overcome Chuck’s misgivings about his size—until suddenly, in the midst of a forest fire, being small becomes a big asset. Penn’s (the Kissing Hand series) earnest text, with its intermittent rhyming (for some reason only Chuck speaks in meter), isn’t exactly delicate in its messaging, but Yamada’s (Bedtime Blastoff!) digital illustrations bring plenty of wide-eyed energy and determination to this workplace drama. Ages 3–5. Illustrator’s agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Agency. (Aug.)