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Reviewed by Irene Roth
Title: I’m Your Bus
Author: Marilyn Singer
Illustrator: Evan Polenghi
Reading Level: Ages 4 - 8
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-545-08918-0
I’m Your Bus is a cute and delightful book about the daily life of a school bus and his road-hugging buddies. This book has the beep on what makes a school bus so special for kids. Many kids think that school buses are mundane and merely functional. Singer’s story will transform every child’s idea of a school bus. One of the striking features of Singer’s story is how she personifies the bus.
The bus is always ready to drive the kids to and from school each morning and take them home in the afternoon. And in between those pick-ups and drop-offs, the bus spends time with other parked buses or driving around town.
The book is written rhythmically to involve the young reader. Each page is chock full of words that are pleasing to the ear and pictures that are vivid and colorful to the eye. Who would think that a school bus could make a child so happy and content?
The artwork and illustrations in the book are mesmerizing as well. Polenhi is a gifted artist. The cover of the book includes a picture of a big, yellow school bus. The front of the bus is painted as a face with the windshields the two eyes and the top of hood is the nose while under the hood is the mouth.
When I think back to my own school bus experiences, I wish I had read a great school bus story like this. I can still remember some of the cold and uncomfortable bus rides that I had on my way to and from school. Singer’s book might have helped to make my bus rides much more enjoyable. And I’m sure it will do the same for all the kids who read this book.
About the author: Marilyn Singer is the author of more than 80 books for children in many genres. She has won several Children’s Choice and Parents’ Choice awards, as well as a Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honour Book prize for Creature Carnival. Her picture book City Lullaby was recently cited by Time magazine as one of the top Ten Children’s Books for 2007. Singer lives in Washington, Connecticut, and Brooklyn, New York, where there are many school buses.
About the Illustrator: Evan Polenghi is the art director for the Learning Maestros, a children’s music publishing company. In addition, Evan has created designs for Gap Kids and Baby Gap. His illustrations have appeared in the Chicken Socks book Eye Find, and have been part of many popular advertising campaigns, including print media for Toshiba and American Express. Polenghi lives in New York City.
About the Reviewer: Irene S. Roth is a freelance writer for kids and young adults. She has articles which will be published in Girls’ Life and Boys’ Life. For more information about her, and to read some of her reflections on writing, visit her online at www.sites.google.com/site/irenerothfreelancewriter. Also visit her blog at: www.szabowska.wordpress.com