The Wheels on the Bus - Donovan Bixley

Published by Hodder Moa Books/Hachette New Zealand Ltd: Auckland, New Zealand, 2010.

I have previously talked about this author's version of Old MacDonald's Farm in the first group of picture book reviews. The Wheels on the Bus does a similar thing to that book, taking the titular children's song and making it far more 'Kiwiana.' This one goes the anthropomorphic route, with the bus being driven by a Kiwi and picking up iconic New Zealand creatures, each from iconic New Zealand landscapes. Along with the usual verses, we also get a few like "The lambs on the bus go baa baa baa" and "The passengers on the bus go bumpity-bump..." which are a little more specific to the page.

One page seems to have a cameo by the animal characters from Old MacDonald's Farm, which makes sense since the bus from this book is visible in the barn in that book. Another 'hidden' aspect is a little bit of Maori mythology: there are faces on the three mountains in the volcanic plateau, and the feet of what appear to be patupaiarehe (Maori 'fairies') are visible on a tree branch at the hot pools.

If you're going to reread a book with a classic song in it, Bixley's beautifully illustrated versions are worth hunting out.


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