"I think I'm missing a contact lens.I think my wallet's gone.And I think this bus is stopping againTo let a couple more freaks get on.Look out!"-- Weird Al Yankovik'sQueen parody, "Another One Rides the Bus"Given how many hundredsof times I've read his books aloud over the past forty years, I cannot believe that I am -- for the very first time -- getting to write about Byron Barton. Having shared his illustrated versions of traditional tales, his original picture book tales, and his machine-and technology-related nonfiction picture books over and over again with my children and my nieces and nephews; for many years, with my preschool students; and, now, with my baby grandson; this guy's work has forever been a really big deal to me.Long before I got to know anyone in children's publishing , back when I'd be going into the library once a week to choose another thirty picture books to borrow for use during the coming week's circletimes, back then, Byron Barton's boldly-colored illustrations and blocky lettering in books like JUMP, FROG, JUMP! and BUILDING A HOUSE and GOODMORNING CHICK helped define for me what Susan Hirschman's Greenwillow Books were all about, and contributed to my watching for that "brand" when I'd be scanning the picture book shelves."At my third stop, three cats get on my bus."In addition to its classic Byron Barton-style illustrating, and its being classic Byron Barton transportation-related, MY BUS is really interesting to me for a couple more reasons. The first one is that this is an adding and subtracting lesson in disguise: First, there are batches of cats and dogs that board the bus. Then, at subsequent stops, small, mixed groups of cats and dogs disembark at the boat, at the train, and at the plane. The final passenger is a dog who goes home with our narrator, the driver.The other thing I love about a bus full of cats and dogs is that I often sing "The Wheels on the Bus" to my grandson Chayton. And once I get past the verses about the wheels and the windows and the wipers, I move on to singing about the noises made by the seals on the bus and the lions on the bus and the pigs on the bus, etc. So the cats and dogs on the bus here fit right in with that theme.I don't know that I would particularly relish sitting on a bus amidst five dogs and fivecats (or cleaning up after them), but with Byron Barton behind the wheel, it makes for a fine day's outing
40 pages 978-0-06-228736-6 Ages 2-5Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, Librarian, California USASee more of his picks: Richie's Picks https://richiespicks.com
