Footballs tossed in the air! Lunches scattered and drawings splattered! Hop on this big yellow bus for a crazy, rollicking ride on which the grown-ups are the troublemakers while the kids are the ones trying to sit still. Laura Huliska-Beith creates a wonderfully zany world of bright color and chaos for a unique variation of the familiar song "The Wheels on the Bus." PreSchool-Grade 1–An energetic adaptation of a traditional song. Bright cartoons with collage details capture various students and staff as they travel on the school bus. The usual suspects are here, from children, teachers, and the librarian to the nurse and a female coach. On the final spread, the driver switches hats to become the principal and welcomes the excited crowd to his school. The lyrics are clever and, for the most part, fit the melody well. The librarian urges the students to Read, read, read!...Read more books! and the custodian says, Mop, mop mop! Sweep, sweep, sweep!...Clean this mess! The lunch ladies verse crams a few too many syllables into each line, but the extra effort is repaid in the illustration–two lunch ladies (one cuddly, one intimidating) serve up spaghetti, hamburgers, and bowls of green goo, while the librarian holds up a book with a recipe for glop. Lyrics and music are included on the last page. This book is a surefire winner, combining a wildly popular song with the enduring appeal of the school bus, and bringing it all to life with madcap pictures. –Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. K-Gr. 2. The toddler favorite, "The Wheels on the Bus," receives a chipper facelift in this singalong picture book. Instead of the traditional lyrics' mechanical maneuvers, Moore's rendition spotlights the patter of school employees who commute with the kids: "The librarian on the bus says 'Read, read, read! Books, books, books! Read, read, read!' The librarian on the bus says, 'Read more books!' All the way to school." The fact that the refrains conform to a less predictable pattern than the original may initially cause children to stumble, but there's great fun in the notion of school authority figures riding the bus--an element played up in the antic gouache-and-collage paintings of grown-ups wreaking havoc as an indulgent driver (later revealed to be the principal) looks on. Don't expect this parody to reinforce rules of bus-riding safety, but do expect little ones to want to hear, and sing, it more than once. Jennifer Mattson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “High-energy.” - Kirkus Reviews Footballs tossed in the air! Lunches scattered and drawings splattered! Hop on this big yellow bus for a crazy, rollicking ride on which the grown-ups are the troublemakers while the kids are the ones trying to sit still. Laura Huliska-Beith creates a wonderfully zany world of bright color and chaos for a unique variation of the familiar song "The Wheels on the Bus." Mary-Alice Moore is a children's book editor who can usually be found in a minivan with her husband and three sons, traveling up and down, round and round, all through Fairfield, Connecticut. Laura Huliska-Beith is the illustrator of the beloved Goodnight Train series written by June Sobel. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband and two small dogs. She works in the attic studio and is often distracted by squirrels and their death-defying acrobatics outside her window.
