FICTION

The Hoppity Wheels on the Bus

by J. Elizabeth Mills (text) & illus. by Ben Whitehouse
Scholastic/Cartwheel. (Holiday Wheels on the Bus). Dec. 2025. 24p. pap $5.99. ISBN 9781546180487. PreS-Gr 1
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PreS-Gr 1–A magic bus with a rabbit driver and carrot windshield wipers takes three friends on a trip to a farm on a rainy spring day. Each page’s text in Mills’s (The Spooky Wheels on the Bus) book is a spring-themed verse of “The Wheels on the Bus,” but with the refrain “All through the rain.” The kids see farm animals, pick flowers, and hunt for decorated eggs. At the end, the rain fades and the bus flies away under a sunset rainbow, leaving the kids at the farm. Brightly colored full-bleed illustrations by ­Whitehouse (The Merry Wheels on the Bus) lend a cheerfulness to the somewhat belabored verses. ­Pages are full of spring-themed elements, like chickens, rabbits, carrots, and eggs. A motivated adult reader could bring this to life for preschoolers by singing the words and adding motions. Children and adults have various skin tones.
VERDICT Add to collections where more secular ­Easter books are in demand.
Reviewed by Rachel Owens , Dec 01, 2025

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