One Boy Watching

March 1, 2022
A view of rural life through the eyes of a boy riding the bus to school. The book opens to the sight of "one boy watching" for the school bus in the morning. Once on the bus, he looks out the window at sparsely populated country roads, train tracks, and farmland while the seats slowly fill with other children. The solitary but curious and contented nature of the unnamed boy is palpable as he notices various details, from "one gnarled tree" and "four rusty cars" to "seven wild sunflowers" and "two water towers." The repetitive text, with just one line per page, underscores the routine nature of the daily bus ride as well as its lengthiness. The bus itself almost becomes a character, described at first in static terms--"two bright headlights," "three big steps up," and "twenty-eight empty seats"--and then figuratively as a "crayon box" into which kids pack themselves and from which they ultimately spill out. This image is especially appropriate given Snider's smudged crayon illustrations, brightly colored and drawn in a childlike style. The emphasis on numbers (although not presented in order) to describe details in the illustrations makes this book useful for practicing counting. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A contemplative picture book that bears watching. (Picture book. 4-7)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 2, 2022
A long school bus trip through farmland forms the scaffolding of this counting meditation by Snider (Blue Floats Away), in which a light-brown-skinned boy wearing a magenta hoodie, a bus’s first passenger of the day, boards the vehicle and gazes out the window. Simple, rhythmic lines place readers in the here and now: “Four rusty cars./ Seven wild sunflowers.” Sunrise colors illuminate colored pencil and marker spreads—the bus’s warm orange-yellow, its interior’s cool blue shadows, and the rose and lemon of the dawn breaking over barns and pastures. Stop by stop, the bus picks up pupils of various skin tones in a regimen they all seem to know. Small, unexpected incidents provide drama (“One big BUMP!/ All the kids in back JUMP!”), while arrival in town is marked by specific landmarks (“Two water towers. One grain elevator”). They’re the compass points of the child’s internal landscape, and as the school day ends, he envisions seeing them on the trip home. The sanctuary of unchanging routine allows the boy to devote attention to the beauty of the ordinary world across space and time—something that Snider represents as both worthwhile and deeply human. Ages 3–5. Agent: Judy Hansen, Hansen Literary.

May 15, 2022
Grades K-3 Early in the morning, a school bus travels down a country road. Meanwhile, there's "One boy. Waiting," at home until its arrival. On board, alone, he gazes out the window at "three quiet deer . . . seven wild sunflowers" and more. As the long ride toward town continues, the boy's focus remains on what there is to see from his seat, beginning with reflective moments while he's the sole passenger to bustling activity as more students climb on. Eventually, the bus reaches school, and "every kid hops off like crayons spilled from a crayon box." As the day wraps up, the boy stares out a window again, this time from his classroom, anticipating what sights the ride home will bring. Brightly colored illustrations, with soft edges and scribbly details, pair beautifully with the spare, well-paced prose. Repetition throughout conveys the bus ride's routine nature, but, paired with the art, it emphasizes how varied--and intriguing--it can be. Here observing becomes not just a way to pass time but an opportunity to engage with the outside world.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2022

K-Gr 2-In brightly endearing illustrations that have the appearance of digital colored pencil and watercolor, a boy's trip to and from school is captured through the many things that can be counted and observed, especially out the bus window. Early in the morning, he is the first to climb on his bus in a rural farmland setting, counting the many things he sees. Eventually he arrives at school and "one by one, every kid hops off like crayons spilled from a crayon box." As the day comes to a close, he wonders "how many things he will discover on the journey home." A simple text encourages readers to notice the world around them. For those students who ride the bus, no matter the locale, this title will honor their experience and perhaps challenge them to take stock of the potential discoveries awaiting them while "packed like crayons in a crayon box." VERDICT A solid title for sharing with children working on descriptive writing and for those communities where bus riding is part of the day, this is a beautiful homage to that childhood experience.-John Scott

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.