When The Wheels on the Bus, by Caldecott Medalist Paul O. Zelinsky, broke onto the scene twelve years ago, it created a sensation with its clever characters, sly subplots, luscious colors, and the incomparable flair of its moving parts. Almost a million young readers have enjoyed the wheels that go round, doors that open and shut, and people who go bumpety-bump. Today it remains as fresh and engaging as when it was first published.
The Wheels on the Bus: A Book with Movable Parts FROM THE PUBLISHER When The Wheels on the Bus, by Caldecott Medalist Paul O. Zelinsky, broke onto the scene twelve years ago, it created a sensation with its clever characters, sly subplots, luscious colors, and the incomparable flair of its moving parts. Almost a million young readers have enjoyed the wheels that go round, doors that open and shut, and people who go bumpety-bump. Today it remains as fresh and engaging as when it was first published. Author Biography: Paul O. Zelinsky is one of the most original and celebrated children's book illustrators at work today.
FROM THE CRITICS Publishers Weekly In an ingeniously designed, deftly executed lift-the-flap (and pull-the-tab) book, Zelinsky elaborates on the well-known and much-loved children's song. Not only do its wheels go round and round, but the bus here also has doors that open and shut, windshield wipers that move back and forth, and so on. The text consists of the lyrics of the song itself, but Zelinsky has neatly inserted a number of visual subplots that flesh out the story--one involving a boy with a boxful of adventurous kittens, another a motorcyclist and her runaway puppy, a third a young man with a guitar. The music and refrain are included on the back cover, and those unfamiliar with the song may well want to bone up in order to sing the book's praises to the most appropriate tune. Ages 2-8. (Oct.)
School Library Journal The wheels on the bus literally go 'round in this brilliantly designed and produced pop-up edition of the familiar participation song. The realistic special effects use pull-tabs plus a few lifted flaps; doors open and close, wipers swish, babies comically ``WAAAH!,'' and mothers ``Shh!'' as the bus bounces its way ``all over town,'' arriving at last at the Overtown Public Library in time for a musical program. A compressed, undulating perspective and swirling colors animate each vigorously busy scene. Figures are rendered with slightly exaggerated but individual gestures and expressions, and there's plenty of detail and byplay for readers to pick out. The song, with its repeated but contained gestures, is a perfect choice for a pop-up, for the art and engineering are woven together seamlessly, and the book will lose little of its appeal after the moving parts have run their race. Music is included on the back cover. --John Peters, New York Public Library
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