A Bus Called Heaven - Reviewed by Tom

A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham

Reviewed by Tom (aged 9)

This book is about an old, abandoned bus called Heaven. It is broken down on the street. A little girl called Stella looked inside the bus and said "it could be ours". The bus is moved to the front of Stella's house. Members of street clean the bus and they use it for meetings and parties. Then one day a tow truck comes and tows it to the scrapyard. Everyone is upset. Stella competes with the Scrapyard Boss to win back the bus. Stella won. Everyone gets together to push the bus back to the street into a vacant lot. Then everyone had a big party around the bus called Heaven.

I like the pictures because they have a lot of colour and a lot of detail. I really like this story. In the story there are lots of different people who get together and have fun together. 

I would rate this book 7.5/10

Mum's comments

This is a beautiful book. The story line is entertaining and it makes a lovely bedtime read. The pictures subtly feature people of different ages, races and religions working together in harmony.  Tom didn't notice this fact himself but I would have been surprised if he had. Tom just accepts people just the way they are. After we had finished the book I pointed out to him how everyone was different but that they were all getting along. He replied that it was good that everyone was nice to the baby birds too.

The hard cover book would make a lovely gift or a lovely addition to the bookshelf. The pictures are beautiful. As a child, I would rate a book's value based on the quality of the pictures. Pretty drawings or cartoons got a much higher value than photos. These pictures would have got a very high rating from my younger self. I don't think Tom really appreciates the pictures like I would have at his age. However he is very impressed that we actually own a framed copy of one of the original drawings. We were very lucky to win the picture when we bought the book. I think it is very special too. Plus my inner child turned cartwheels when it arrived. I still love picture books for the pictures.