Seven a.m./ One boy./ Waiting.
So begins the story of an observant boy’s trip to school. After “two bright headlights” herald the arrival of Bus Number Four, he boards and they drive past tree and deer, cars and sunflowers, “matching houses” and “pecking chickens.” Bus Number Four goes from twenty-eight empty seats to “forty-eight kids in all, packed like crayons in a crayon box.” The boy continues watching as the bus makes its way into town. Water towers, a grain elevator, and the bus pulls up at school, where the kids all rush out “like crayons spilled from a crayon box.” And, then, after a full day of school, the boy can still wonder what he’ll “discover on the journey home.”
The first thing I noticed about this wonderful—and wonder-filled—picture book was the gloriously-colored art on the cover, which I’m happy to say also filled the pages inside. The art caught my eye, but when I began reading, I quickly saw that the text was in every way equal to the illustrations. The repeated use of numbers and key phrases tie the story together nicely, and they place the child in his world in a unique and uplifting way.
Lyrical and inspired, ONE BOY WATCHING is a lovely example of picture book as poem, and picture book as art. It’s also a great example of how “quiet” books can also be powerful. Check it out!
--Lynn
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