Fireboat!

Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey by Maira Kalman, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2002, ISBN 0-399-23953-7 Dewey: 974.7
PS: A fireboat, launched in 1931, is retired after many years of fighting fires along the Hudson River, but is saved from being scrapped and then called into service again on September 11, 2001.
Wonder history of New York City beginning in 1931, when "the Empire State Building went up, up, up, Babe Ruth hit his 611th home run in Yankee Stadium, and Snickers hit the stores." Offers a great explanation of what a fireboat does, and would lend itself to a geography lesson on New York City.