The Wheels on the Bus

'Every young child's favourite sing-along action rhyme' (no comment!) is reissued here in board book format (the paperback version was reviewed in BfK 113). The small size and bus-like proportions of this edition seem appropriate, and the opening spread, filled with the jolly orange single-decker, uses the space well. Best when the illustrations fill the page, some have not made the transition from paperback well, and are fussy and not strong enough to bring coherence to this format. Sensibly, the print, previously differentiated to show each new activity, has been made uniform with the younger audience in mind, though appropriate speech bubbles legitimately remain. The bus's passengers are of mixed age and race, though predominantly white.