THE BOY ON THE BUS

Take the “Wheels on the Bus” tune, throw in a slew of extra verses, add pencil-and-watercolor illustrations and you have Dale’s welcome reworking of the sometimes-too-familiar song. A young boy drives the big red vehicle, whose sign reads “SPECIAL,” through the verdant countryside. Different animals board the bus one by one, and their sounds form the heart of most verses (“The ducks on the bus go “Quack! Quack! Quack!”). Once it looks like the bus can’t get any more crowded, it pulls up to a huge and varied flock of sheep. Where can they ride? On the roof, of course. The boy helps them climb up, then drives out of sight, the bus surrounded by all the words for the animal sounds. Dale’s soft-focus pictures are spot-on for her young audience, who’ll love to sing along. (Picture book. 2-6)