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School Bus: A Bright Picture Book for Kids (Ages 4-8) About Riding to School
What is large (or small), bright yellow, and filled with students? School Bus! Climb aboard and let Donald Crews take you to school -- and home again.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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About the author
Donald Crews
49 books49 followersDonald Crews (born August 30, 1938) is an American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. In 2015, the American Library Association (ALA) honored him with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, recognizing his lasting contribution to children's literature. Common subjects of his include modern technology (especially travel vehicles), and childhood memories. His stories often include few humans.
Two of his works were runners-up, or Caldecott Honor Books, for the ALA's annual award for picture book illustration, the Caldecott Medal.
Donald Crews was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1938. He had an older brother, Asa who became Beth Israel Hospital's first African-American intern, and two sisters. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father worked at the railroad, and several other odd jobs. For the summers he would travel down to rural Florida to stay with his grandmother, who he called "Bigmama". The difference between the big city and the farm caused him to create two, massively different types of art later on in his life.
From a young age, his talent for drawing was encouraged by his family and his teachers. When he got into high school, one of his teachers became a mentor to him, and personally made sure that he got into art school.
He graduated from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City, and married another graduate, graphic artist Ann Jonas.
Crews was drafted into the army in 1963, and sent to Frankfurt, Germany. Their first daughter, Nina was born in Germany, and their second was born a year later in New York. Nina is also an award-winning children's book author.
While in Germany, he worked on several pieces for his portfolio, including the book We Read: A to Z (1967). After several suggestions from friends, he submitted it, and it was published by Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). The book relied on abstract ideas, rather than the clichés that were usually associated with ABC books. One classic example is the entry for the letter C: "Cc, corner: where the yellow is" is illustrated with a yellow square in the far corner of a red page in the book.
He created several other books over the next few years, but it was 1978's Freight Train that won him a Caldecott Honor and the respect of other artists in the field. He won another Caldecott Honor the next year for Truck. Several other transportation themed books followed, such as School Bus (1984), Flying (1986), and Sail Away (1995). His memories from his summers in Florida first appeared in Bigmama's and later in Shortcut. These stories are vastly different from his previous works, in that they focus on humans, and tell a more linear story.
Crews and his wife currently live in the state of New York in an old, restored farmhouse overlooking the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains.
Two of his works were runners-up, or Caldecott Honor Books, for the ALA's annual award for picture book illustration, the Caldecott Medal.
Donald Crews was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1938. He had an older brother, Asa who became Beth Israel Hospital's first African-American intern, and two sisters. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father worked at the railroad, and several other odd jobs. For the summers he would travel down to rural Florida to stay with his grandmother, who he called "Bigmama". The difference between the big city and the farm caused him to create two, massively different types of art later on in his life.
From a young age, his talent for drawing was encouraged by his family and his teachers. When he got into high school, one of his teachers became a mentor to him, and personally made sure that he got into art school.
He graduated from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City, and married another graduate, graphic artist Ann Jonas.
Crews was drafted into the army in 1963, and sent to Frankfurt, Germany. Their first daughter, Nina was born in Germany, and their second was born a year later in New York. Nina is also an award-winning children's book author.
While in Germany, he worked on several pieces for his portfolio, including the book We Read: A to Z (1967). After several suggestions from friends, he submitted it, and it was published by Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). The book relied on abstract ideas, rather than the clichés that were usually associated with ABC books. One classic example is the entry for the letter C: "Cc, corner: where the yellow is" is illustrated with a yellow square in the far corner of a red page in the book.
He created several other books over the next few years, but it was 1978's Freight Train that won him a Caldecott Honor and the respect of other artists in the field. He won another Caldecott Honor the next year for Truck. Several other transportation themed books followed, such as School Bus (1984), Flying (1986), and Sail Away (1995). His memories from his summers in Florida first appeared in Bigmama's and later in Shortcut. These stories are vastly different from his previous works, in that they focus on humans, and tell a more linear story.
Crews and his wife currently live in the state of New York in an old, restored farmhouse overlooking the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
August 31, 2025
SCHOOL BUS is one of several cute little books by Donald Crews. Each two page spread has the yellow buses on them in different phases of the school day. Many of the captions are one liners. There are two things going for this book. For one thing it would be easy for a small child to read along as they recognize the words. On top of that, it may help to make the child a little less apprehensive when the day comes about leaving the safety and comfort of home.
In all honesty, I picked this book up when I saw it at our local library because it reminded me of an event long ago. When I was in eight grade I was appointed a monitor on my bus as I was the oldest. I took my position seriously. There was a brother and sister who were always misbehaving and ignoring me when I would try to enforce the rules, which mainly had to do with safety. I still remember the time the bus stopped to pick up some kids from our school. There were kids from another school waiting at the same stop for their bus. This troublesome kid stuck his head out the window and was yelling at those kids. I told him to sit back down but he ignored me. As we pulled away we heard the 'bong' as his head hit the sign. Everyone on the bus laughed at him so he broke out in tears. I still wonder to this day if it knocked some sense into him.
In all honesty, I picked this book up when I saw it at our local library because it reminded me of an event long ago. When I was in eight grade I was appointed a monitor on my bus as I was the oldest. I took my position seriously. There was a brother and sister who were always misbehaving and ignoring me when I would try to enforce the rules, which mainly had to do with safety. I still remember the time the bus stopped to pick up some kids from our school. There were kids from another school waiting at the same stop for their bus. This troublesome kid stuck his head out the window and was yelling at those kids. I told him to sit back down but he ignored me. As we pulled away we heard the 'bong' as his head hit the sign. Everyone on the bus laughed at him so he broke out in tears. I still wonder to this day if it knocked some sense into him.
March 24, 2017
Never really had to ride the bus to school...but is there anyone who does not feel a bit nostalgic when a yellow school bus goes by? Great story for a child before they have to take their first trip on the bus.
July 15, 2018
If you've read any of Donald Crews's picture books about vehicles, you know the format. Using as few words as possible, he shows what a particular kind of vehicle does on a typical day, from the moment its motor starts until after it's shut down for the day. In this book, the classic yellow school bus gets the Donald Crews treatment. Anyone who has boarded a school bus in the morning, crisscrossing town to pick up other kids before classes begin, knows the sensations rendered in this book. Many people have vivid memories of riding the bus to and from school.
School buses don't simply materialize when it's time to pick up kids. They're stored at bus shelters, waiting for their wheels to be needed. In big cities and small towns alike, buses are dispatched wherever kids need transportation to school. The kids climb on, parents wave goodbye, and the weekday begins. The buses reverse the route in late afternoon, their cumbersome frames rumbling away from school to take the kids home. The whole long day will resume again tomorrow.
The artwork in School Bus isn't as impressive as what earned Donald Crews a 1979 Caldecott Honor for Freight Train. The buses are drawn in competent detail, but there's nothing surprising or extraordinary. It's a serviceable presentation, good for preschoolers who love machines and vehicles. I'd probably give School Bus one and a half stars, though I'd consider going higher if there were a real story to speak of. Still, for the right audience, this book will be a hit.
School buses don't simply materialize when it's time to pick up kids. They're stored at bus shelters, waiting for their wheels to be needed. In big cities and small towns alike, buses are dispatched wherever kids need transportation to school. The kids climb on, parents wave goodbye, and the weekday begins. The buses reverse the route in late afternoon, their cumbersome frames rumbling away from school to take the kids home. The whole long day will resume again tomorrow.
The artwork in School Bus isn't as impressive as what earned Donald Crews a 1979 Caldecott Honor for Freight Train. The buses are drawn in competent detail, but there's nothing surprising or extraordinary. It's a serviceable presentation, good for preschoolers who love machines and vehicles. I'd probably give School Bus one and a half stars, though I'd consider going higher if there were a real story to speak of. Still, for the right audience, this book will be a hit.
November 2, 2017
First sentence: Yellow school buses large and small. Empty yellow buses cross the town. STOP. GO. Going this way. Going that way. Here it comes. See you later. Full buses head for school.
Premise/plot: Donald Crews gives us a day in the life of a school bus. The book comes full circle, beginning and ending with empty buses gone 'home again' in a parking lot.
My thoughts: This book is very yellow. It doesn't have the same rhythm and rhyme thing going for it as Freight Train does. Nor is it really a concept book like Freight Train was. (Freight Train is about COLORS.) The language is simple. I think little ones could definitely learn to read this one.
The art is simple, perhaps a little too simple. It does give us a diverse group of people waiting for buses, riding the buses, getting off the buses, etc. While there could be some pros perhaps to having all the humans lack facial features, I prefer faces.
I'm not sure I'd call this book "dandy entertainment" like Publishers Weekly did back in the day. In fact, I doubt I've used the word DANDY even once in one of my reviews.
Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10
Premise/plot: Donald Crews gives us a day in the life of a school bus. The book comes full circle, beginning and ending with empty buses gone 'home again' in a parking lot.
My thoughts: This book is very yellow. It doesn't have the same rhythm and rhyme thing going for it as Freight Train does. Nor is it really a concept book like Freight Train was. (Freight Train is about COLORS.) The language is simple. I think little ones could definitely learn to read this one.
The art is simple, perhaps a little too simple. It does give us a diverse group of people waiting for buses, riding the buses, getting off the buses, etc. While there could be some pros perhaps to having all the humans lack facial features, I prefer faces.
I'm not sure I'd call this book "dandy entertainment" like Publishers Weekly did back in the day. In fact, I doubt I've used the word DANDY even once in one of my reviews.
Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10
November 7, 2025
This book was the worst.
Illustrations look like clip arts, the words, the “story”, absolutely everything about this was painful.
I will be having nightmares and will be hiding it from my son so that he won’t ask me to read it again.
March 25, 2014
This book on school buses would be perfect for the kindergarten classrooms. The text doesn't say much, so it would age appropriate for that age group. It’s important for a classroom that is having a transportation curriculum to have this book included in with it, as for it shows children the daily process of riding on the school bus.
As the school bus in the book travels down the street, you will see a multitude of other types of vehicles, such as; taxi’s, cars, trucks, and buses. When the school bus picks up children at the bus stop, or brings them home from school, children will see the illustrations covering different types of races in this book. You will see Asian, African-American, Caucasian, and Latino students coming out of the school in the pictures. To add more into the lesson, students could count all of the school buses throughout the book, as for there are many on each page.
As the school bus in the book travels down the street, you will see a multitude of other types of vehicles, such as; taxi’s, cars, trucks, and buses. When the school bus picks up children at the bus stop, or brings them home from school, children will see the illustrations covering different types of races in this book. You will see Asian, African-American, Caucasian, and Latino students coming out of the school in the pictures. To add more into the lesson, students could count all of the school buses throughout the book, as for there are many on each page.
September 19, 2010
What is not to love if you are interested in school buses!
March 7, 2013
My 2-yr old is into school buses and the color yellow. This book is perfect for the stage he is in. He loved counting the buses and seeing the different sizes.
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July 30, 2016Daddy read this to me last night. I love school buses so I liked the book, but my favorite part was pointing out the lone garbage truck!
June 6, 2023
With just one or two words on each page, Crews describes a school bus’ journey. It’s about concepts like stop, go, and empty as much as it’s about school buses. A good choice for preschool storytimes about buses and going to school. The spare language gives caregivers plenty of space to have conversations about buses, transportation, and school with their littles.
December 9, 2017
Again, Crews does a great job using the simple theme of transportation to tell a small story that can be relatable for kids all across America. I would use it on the first day of school to talk to students about how they get to school and what their bus experience is like.
October 2, 2018
It was a sweet and simple book about buses. Buses are nice forms of transportation (Not so much in middle school and high school where you smell body odor from pubescents who don't wear deodorant.) Anyway, it's a pleasant book for kids who are beginning to learn to read!
October 23, 2018
Calling all school bus enthusiasts! Though simple in text, this book is full of bright yellow buses of all shapes and sizes, in groups and on their own, on their way to and from school. Love Donald Crews’s style!
September 30, 2019
This book is perfect for kinder or younger students. My toddler son wanted me to read it five times in a row because he loves buss. Great for beginning readers!
It would be great for a unit about jobs around town and important people at school.
It would be great for a unit about jobs around town and important people at school.
September 4, 2023
This book is fine for what it is—a very simple book that focuses on the concept of the school day travel routine, concepts like start and go, and important school vocabulary words. I understand its function and it’s good for young children, but it wasn’t super enjoyable for me as an adult.
July 17, 2025
Ahhh, so much yellow it hurts my eyes! A very simple story appropriate for young children who may have older siblings that ride the school bus. This book would work well for a color- or school-themed storytime with preschoolers or toddlers.
August 28, 2017
3.5 Stars.
September 10, 2017
Such a classic.
January 28, 2018
A day in the life of a bunch of school buses -- from the bus barn to picking up kids, taking them to school, waiting, picking them up, taking them home, and back to the bus barn.
June 5, 2018
My five-year-old picked it out off his shelf. I was incredibly bored. He seemed more into it, but that's because he's legitimate excited about riding the bus to kindergarten.
July 2, 2018
This may have been translated from another language. We like the pictures.
July 24, 2018
The very first book my son read on his own! Have it on video too. So cute.
July 26, 2018
I always followed reading this book up with doing a round of The Wheels on the Bus. It just makes sense.
September 20, 2018
Good intro to school buses, traffic, and signs.
October 1, 2018
Decent book. Not very descriptive with words but lots of pictures of buses.
October 1, 2018
Good for very young kids. Didn’t have a lot of words, but the illustrations were good.
October 1, 2018
This book is about seeing school buses, waiting for them, going to school, and going home. The pictures show streets, people, and school buses. This book would be great for young children.
June 9, 2020
Storytime:
School
Transportation
Colors: Yellow
School
Transportation
Colors: Yellow
September 9, 2020
A great back to school story.
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October 10, 2020⁸
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews