Legions of children, teachers, librarians, and parents love picture books by Loren Long for the fabulous stories, the colorful, clever illustrations, and the heartwarming messages each contains. “The Yellow Bus,” his latest creation, is no different. This time the illustrations are ingeniously created so that the yellow bus, the star of the story, is the only thing in the story that has color. Everything else is drawn in black and white and grey.

It’s as if the yellow school bus is the bright spot, the yellow sun, that sheds light — and love — on those around it. And to emphasize that point, when people or animals touch the school bus, they, too, become imbued with color. There are a few exceptions; for example, we see a brilliant yellow and orange sunset from the inside of the school bus, with its worn, torn seats.

In this picture book Long has managed to engage many of our senses. We see the bright pop of yellow from the school bus, we hear the words as we read the narration about the school bus and its journey, and we also see Long’s depiction of the sounds that the school bus might hear as the children climb in. “Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, giggle-patter.” And as the story progresses, the school bus goes from driving children to their important places to driving senior citizens to their important places. The sounds change accordingly, and the pitter-patter is replaced with a shuffle-clunk. But the school bus is still happy to take them places like the public library and on picnics.

After the school bus is no longer needed for that, it’s left under an overhang in storage. But even there, people in need of shelter find it and with a rustle-bump, and they climb aboard as their friendship fills the bus with joy. As time passes, the school bus has a few more stops on the journey to its final resting place. But as Long demonstrates touchingly, even there the school bus is able to feel the joy in being of service to others.

There is much that can be discussed with kids after reading this book with them. Why did the author decide to make only the school bus, and the things inside it, drawn with color? How does that serve to focus our attention? Does the school bus provide a service? What service? If the children who read the book take a bus, do they think about the bus? What does a typical school bus see and hear each day? Think about all the jobs the school bus in the story had. Which one do you think was the most important and why? What is it to feel joy? What things bring us joy? Did the school bus bring joy to the world? How? How do you think the school bus felt (if a school bus could feel) helping all those people and animals? How do you feel when you help others?

Long even took special care in creating the cover of this book, and the whole jacket cover, opened to its full length, shows the entire school bus. The actual book cover is different, and it shows the school bus traveling the roads in the town that Long so meticulously imagined. Especially interesting is the part at the end where Long shares the idea behind the story and how he approached the artwork. The care and devotion that went into illustrating this book is truly impressive, and he shares a photograph of the actual school bus that was the inspiration for this story. Parents, teachers, and librarians will all benefit from having this treasure in their children’s library.

Please note: This review is based on the final, hardcover book provided by Roaring Book Press, the publisher, for review purposes.