Bus Stops

by Taro Gomi

This simple story, following a bus on its daily route, encourages children to find a variety of objects in the illustrations. Bursting with color, Taro Gomi transforms an everyday event into a joyous journey from start to finish.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Transport, Japanese Literature, Storytime, Japan, Juvenile

34 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Taro Gomi (五味太郎) is a major children’s illustrator and writer. He has more than 400 book titles to his credit. His work has been widely translated into 15 other languages.


Tarō was born in Tokyo and he graduated from ID department, Kuwazawa Design Institute. His readers range from babies to adults, with an equal number of fans overseas. His work has been appreciated considerably with both domestic and international honours such as the Sankei Jido Shuppan Bunka Award, Bologna Children's Book Fair Award among others.


Along with authoring children's books, he is well-known in the fields of Stationery design, clothing design, production of young children's animated videos, CD-ROMs, essays etc.


His popular books published in English include Everyone Poops, Santa Through the Window, Where's the Fish?, My Friends and The Crocodile and the Dentist.

Reviews

[Colette Denali · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are a big fans of Taro Gomi & public transit. This was a big win, especially when the bus stops at the junkyard!

[Latifah S Ningrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was exciting to read this book because I saw the bus stopping to pick up and drop off passengers. I felt sorry for those who missed the bus.

[Aneesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Public transportation ftw

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely board book with a story of a bus making its journey through town and passengers debarking in various locations. As I suspected from the illustrations this was originally published as a hardback in 1988. I will now be seeking the hardback to more fully explore and enjoy the illustrations. This is my first time reading one of Taro Gomi's titles, but it won't be the last. Even in this small format board book the illustrations are delightful.

June 16th, 2017 This is the first time I have wanted to locate the original picture book from which the board book was made. After locating a very well worn library copy through interlibrary loan, I discovered there was a difference. The original had on each two page spread a question asking the reader to locate an item in the illustration. I always find this type of thing a distraction to the flow of the story. Obviously between the two versions of this title I enjoy the board book more.

[Alix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated; my toddler isn't that into the words yet (she prefers rhymes and songs right now), but I think this one will be a hit for a long time once she starts recognizing letters.

[Orion Kopf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful and adorably Japanese.

[Lafcadio · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book with lots to find.

[Jennifer B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a special love for buses and also for Taro Gomi, so this was a treat for me!

[Chance Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute tiny detailed people, and I wish I lived somewhere where I could take a bus, even to the junkyard, where no one gets off the bus.

[Freddie D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for babies - simple, repetitive, soothing and fun. The art design is also very special. My only question is: why does no one ever get on this bus?

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her absolute favorite. We read at least 4 times every day.

[Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's very pretty, and the illustrations allow for lots of interpretation of the little scenes, opportunities to count, name colors, and describe feelings.

[Jenna Montgomery · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story follows bus all around town dropping people off at various stops for multitude of reasons. Each page prompts child to find certain item or person.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book to quietly settle down before sleep.

[Lindsay Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have probably read this book more times than any other book in my entire life. Luckily, it's a pretty cute book and it seems to mesmerize toddlers.

[Liese · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is amazing in a subtle way. Structurally simple and conceptually impressive.

[Deidra Chamberlain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted this to be a little bit deeper.

[Catarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about bus stops and the type of people that might get off or on at certain places. It was interesting.

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adorable tale about a bus making its rounds, and the stereotypical passengers departing at each stop. Whatever region this bus serves, it's got to be the most painfully useless form of mass transportation. The same route that deposits the bus in the garage at the end of the day is the route that deposits construction workers and busy commuters off at their jobs? Woe to the children having to sit in the bus as it slowly winds from the beach, through the edge of town, and past the downtown traffic. Let alone the poor broken down farmer waiting for the mechanic, baseball players waiting for their opponents, sick person waiting for a nurse at the hospital, or film crew waiting for an actor. Has Chris Christie delayed this bus?

Woe to the woman who missed the bus, but at least the bus only had a stop or two after that, she couldn't have been going that far.

The junkyard is a fantastic touch.

[Anna Fillmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deceptively simple narrative of a bus driving through a town, dropping off passengers. I say deceptively because Taro Gomi uses great, complex language is used in this straightforward narrative: artist, sightseers, salesman, building site, leap, commuters, dashes, mechanic, jog, hospital, shoppers, marketplace, junkyard. It reads naturally and effortlessly, and gives us a lot of information about our world in an interesting way. We want to know where this bus will stop next. I gave it 5 stars because there are so few books that portray our complex social world outside of the home for the youngest readers, and "Bus Stops" does this authentically. I can't think of an audience or a setting that would not benefit from using this book.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, you follow a bus along its route. Different people get off at various places--Actors get off at a movie studio, construction workers get off at a construction site, etc. You go all the way to the end of the line where the driver gets off the bus.

Good for toddler storytimes.

[Jennifer A]

Really lovely simple book to share with the 1-3 age group. Never overhwhelming but dense. I find so much to discuss in the pictures not the least of which is emotions, like the feeling of homecoming and dusk on the page where "the bus stops at our house."

[Sophie Landrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful one by Taro. He is our favorite. Includes a fun I-spy game.

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lively illustrations (love the busy commuters!); it's fun to point out the stuff that's going on in each scene. A board book you don't mind reading over and over and over and...

[Cws]

BR-Gom

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids have the Japanese version. Really cute. Taro Gomi's art is amazing.

[Emelda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A board book about a bus and the people who ride it. Public transportation for the win!

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful use of color and a simple story that will be familiar to many children.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute illustrations of city scenes

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the original and the English translation, "Bus Stops". Not a fan of the English translation.