The Spooky Wheels on the Bus:

by J. Elizabeth Mills, Ben Mantle (Illustrator)

A haunted Halloween bus ride that will have children singing with excitement!

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus is a humorous Halloween-themed version of the classic song "The Wheels on the Bus"...with a few ghoulish tricks and treats up its sleeves! Count from one Spooky Bus up to ten Goofy Ghosts as this Halloween ride races through town picking up a few unsuspecting passengers along the way.

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Counting, Storytime, Music

28 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

I was a children's book editor at Scholastic for seven-and-a-half years before I moved to Seattle to work at Cranium Inc. Now I'm striking out on my own as a freelance editor and writer. I have worked in many bookstores, including Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis. Children's books are my passion!

Reviews

[Mr. Cody]

I love this book! Amazing song and incredible art! Totally tons of fun.

[Helen Cox]

The Spooky Wheels on The Bus is a halloween edition of the wheels on the bus. It is also a great counting book. Count one spooky bus to ten goofy ghosts.

Activity: interactive picture "This interactive picture board was made as a companion activity for the book "The Spooky Wheels on the Bus" by J. Elizabeth Mills. You can read the book (or sing the words in the book, by using the original melodic pattern of the Wheels on the Bus song). Print out the bus, and the picture cards, on heavy cardstock, laminate, and Velcro the pictures onto the bus. Once the story begins, you can have students pull the matching picture off the bus. At the end, you can have your students put them all back on the bus in the order they pulled them off. This makes for a fun Halloween themed circle time activity."

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/P...

[Beth]

This is perfect! Start the year with the traditional Wheels on the Bus and by Halloween time, they will be ready for this version. For props, be sure to have 3 cats, 4 carved pumpkin wheels, 5 spiders, 6 mummies, 7 monsters, 8 witches, 9 brooms and 10 ghosts.

[Madison LibraryBookFamily]

This book is a perfect addition to our Halloween collection. The tune is familiar, the pictures are fun, and there is a sequential number sequence.

[debbicat *made of stardust*]

It’s just too cute!

[Shiloah]

Silly and cute. Perfect for my Halloween loving five year old Courtney.

[Caroline]

My 10-month-old LOVES the song The Wheels on the Bus, so it’s no surprise he loves this book!

[Chris Hays]

One of Luka's favorite songs...means the book is an easy sell. Current favorite is the spiders.

[Sharon]

This spooky halloween story is set to the tune of the "wheels on the bus" My children loved reading each page and working on counting from one to ten. What a fun book. It has been six days since the first time we read it. I still catch my four year old looking through book and reading it to herself.

[Renee]

My kids and I just love reading through and singing along to this Halloween-themed version of the classic song, "The Wheels on the Bus". It was fun to see my son counting each monster/ghost/witch, etc. on each page. I think he was expecting that the illustrator had made a mistake! Great choice for Halloween for kids ages 3 to 7.

[Shelly Koressel]

Great book for Halloween! The book is to the tune of the Wheels on the bus go round and round, but all the things that happen to the bus are to do with a Halloween theme. Very fun! Good picture book. Good for Kindergarden.

[Melanie Hetrick]

A great take on the traditional song. This book combines the excitement of a Halloween story with learning to count. Instead of crying babies and clinking money readers are delighted with hissing cats and bony wipers.

[Melissa]

This is a fun Halloween take on "The Wheels on the Bus". Kids will love making the noises and doing actions as the bus makes its way through town on Halloween night. Good choice for a silly Halloween story-time.

[Angie]

Super cute illustrations. And a cute enough adaptation of the song. Not going to become my ALL TIME EVER Halloween holiday favorite but the kids who have looked at it at the bookfair have enjoyed it.

[Datoria]

Great movement book. Can be used for onamonapias and number sequencing

[Amy]

really cute, short book a spin on the wheels on the bus. the kids liked it.

[Olson Family Matters]

Madelyn LOVED this book and was singing along after a week or so of reading.

[Alice]

This is a fun twist on the wheels on the bus song...it is guaranteed to get the song in your head...fun counting book and kids always dig Halloween stuff all year round!

[Rose]

Great for singing along around Halloween.

[Liz Weimer]

Poetry
Early Primary (K-1)

I really love variations or parodies of classic children's rhymes and songs. The students immediately recognize what they are hearing and get to sing along, learning the new lyrics along the way. Students are much more engaged when it is something familiar. This book specifically is so fun and cute, and you get to read along as this bus picks up some spooky passengers! An easy read, and lots of cute pictures.

[Kara]

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus is a fun take on the wheels on the bus song that also helps little ones learn to count to ten! It has adorable illustrations inside and to make it even more appealing to children you can sing/read it to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus song! This may be aimed as a Halloween read but I think it make a fun favorite for any time of the year.

[Hannah Ogilvie]

I think that this book has a fun and different twist on the original wheels on the bus. It has a holiday connected as well, so that means you can show different varieties of this story because they are different but similar because it is the same tune. Would use within a classroom and would recommend.

[Emily Jones]

Such a fun book! The rhythm can be difficult to get the first time through some of the lines, but they’re easy to adjust to. I love Halloween books and cute Halloween fun, but sometimes I do have mixed feelings about “spooky” books and movies for children. For parents who are fine with Halloween themes, this is a really fun and cute book that’s perfect for Halloween and not too spooky.

[Madison Harrison]

I think this would be a fun book for students to read around Halloween. The students should recognize the jingle from The Wheels on the Bus. The illustrations are very Halloween themed. This is a very simple book that doesn't have very many words in it. Students could sing the song by repeating it after the teacher reads it.

[Chulandon]

I think that this book is a great book to help kids not only learn how to start reading but also learn their numbers while they are reading a new take on the classic song “wheels on the bus.” I also love how the author made this Halloween themed that way children could read this during the Halloween season.

[Megan Montgomery]

Great read/sing aloud for Halloween

My toddler is very particular with books and he loves this. It's also one of my favorites to sing along with. In fact, I now have it memorized and I use the song as part of our music therapy for speech paradise.

[Lacey]

It's a really cute and fun play on the Wheels on the Bus song. My youngest daughter loves Wheels on the Bus and was super excited when she found this at the library. She and my oldest daughter enjoyed the book.

I'd read it to them again.

[Daisy Thompson]

Cute and spooky counting book for the kids to enjoy for Halloween. All the spooky ghosts and ghouls go for a magical bus ride. You can read it or turn it into a song. Beautiful vibrant illustrations as well.
Loved it!

[Chelsea]

A spooky cool new way to read/sing "The Wheels on the Bus". Cannot wait to use this book during story time.

TO READ: During Toddler Time and Preschool Play.

[Anna]

My daughter never tires of this book, we've had it for over a year. We read it when we want her to calm down in the car seat, eat dinner, anything. We sang it when we went to visit Santa Claus, which was seasonally suspect, but she smiled for the pictures. The illustrations are adorable and she's always finding new things to point out.