Three pecking chickens.
No train? Look both ways. LET'S GO!"
The school bus rolls out at 7 AM.
One boy waits. Morning rituals are the same for him. First one on, empty seats, a time for watching. Who might have known, but him, all that would be seen as the bus moves forward on its route? As he watches, the scenes are described in three-word observations. He rides along, past the many wonders of the countryside, all the while allowing himself time to ponder and dream in silence.
The more bus stops, the more children climb aboard. The quiet changes as the bus rolls on.
"Forty-eight kids in all,
packed like crayons in
a crayon box."
The ride is otherwise uneventful. Railroad crossings, farmyards, a water tower, a grain elevator, the community streets and sights, and an 7:50 arrival at school. The buses unload their passengers, the day at school begins. At 3, the boy begins to wonder what he will see on the bus ride home.
Grant Snider's idyllic artwork is stunning. Created in colored pencil and marker, each full-page spread evokes the peacefulness of the country roads many children travel from home to school each day. From early morning sunrise, through ever-lightening skies, readers are made aware of the many rural scenes to be found in a daily bus ride to school. Grant Snider's experiences and remembrances from his Bus Number Four trips are fully realized in his tribute to childhood observation.
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