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CM . . . .
Volume VII Number 19 . . . . May 25, 2001
Primary teachers will enjoy using Next Stop! in their units on transportation. It would also be
useful as an introduction to a trip on the city bus (although the depiction of Claire sipping from a
soft drink can which she subsequently spills might elicit some debate).
Recommended.
Valerie Nielsen is a retired teacher-librarian who lives in Winnipeg, MB.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - May 25, 2001.
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Riding the bus is a pleasure often unavailable to children growing up in suburban neighborhoods.
Thanks to Sarah Ellis, an award-winning author of novels for eleven to fourteen year-olds,
children can experience a vicarious bus ride by reading Next Stop! In her first picture book,
Ellis has taken a simple idea and expanded it into a delightful small story for very young readers.
On Saturday, Claire rides the bus, sitting up front so she can help the driver announce the stops.
An array of city folk get on and off the bus, each colorfully portrayed by artist Ruth Ohi, a gifted
and prolific illustrator whose most recent picture books include One Duck and The Bye-Bye
Pie. Next Stop!, with its simple and repetitive text appearing at the bottom of each lavishly
illustrated page, will be a favourite with beginning readers. There is a great deal of humour and
detail in Oho's depiction of the characters who inhabit the bus and just enough repetition in Ellis'
story-line to give young readers the clues they need to read the story fluently. The last person to
get on the bus is a smiling woman who kisses both the driver and Claire. Young readers shouldn't
have any problem guessing the identity of the smiling woman and chuckling at the surprise ending.