The Yellow Bus

This thought-provoking story by Long (Never Forget Eleanor) models how a cast-aside object might endure. A spectacular aerial opening spread shows the yellow vehicle of the title as a single spot of color moving through a rural village in a river valley. In its earliest iterations, the yellow bus takes children, then older citizens, "from one important place/ to another." Later, the parked vehicle shelters unhoused individuals in a quiet spot under a city bridge, then becomes a domicile for a herd of country goats and, following a landscape altered by construction, offers sanctuary in another, quite unexpected, place. In each new role, the individuals that inhabit the bus "filled her with joy." Grayscale landscapes are rendered in sculpted and shaded pencil work, while the bus and the beings within it are painted in brightly colored acrylics, an effect that visually highlights the vehicle's relationship with its inhabitants and surroundings. It's a saga that paves way for discussions about utility and repurposing, social and structural priorities, change over time, and more. Human characters are shown with various skin tones. An author's note concludes. Ages 3-6. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (June)

K-Gr 2--What happens to the objects around us after they leave our lives? This bittersweet tale evokes Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House as it traces the long life of a yellow school bus. Starting with her intended purpose (the bus, though inanimate, is gendered) of taking children to and from school, as she ages, her purpose changes: she takes older folks to the library, becomes a gathering place for the unhoused, then a playground for goats, until at last she ends up at the bottom of a lake. The illustrations dazzle. In most spreads, the background is black and white, in graphite and charcoal pencil; the bus is painted in bright yellow acrylic paint, drawing the eye and emphasizing the joy of the bus (a repeated refrain in the text). When all hope seems lost, and the bus is in an empty urban lot, the color palette switches and readers view the inside of the bus as black and white, while the background is lit up with the yellows, oranges, and purples of a beautiful sunset. Finally, as the bus is fully submerged, there is a bird's-eye view of a small but strong yellow glow of the bus underwater, still shining amid black and white surroundings. The author's note at the end, describing how the art was made, is not to be missed, and could lead to interesting activities around making a paper village.VERDICT A must-purchase, this book will leave readers looking at objects around them differently long after its covers are closed.--Kadie Seitz