cover image The Bus Stop

The Bus Stop

Nancy Hellen. Orchard Books (NY), $11.95 (10pp) ISBN 978-0-531-05765-0

Cheery, bright graphics and a clever design give this book its charm. On the first spread, a bus stop is shown at the edge of a town, with nary a person or a bus in sight. One by one, passengers appear: Mrs. Bishop, going shopping; Jane Jackson, on her way to school; Mr. Knudson, heading for the office, and so on. Pages (of a thick stock) are of decreasing widths, so that each new person joins the queue without obscuring those who have come before. And ``windows'' are cut into a page on the last spread, which flips over to install all the patient passengers into a cherry-red bus. ``The bus is here at last! Off they all go!'' A simple idea, well executed, with plenty of child appeal. Ages 2-6. (Oct.)