The Wheels on the Bus: (A Classic Nursery Rhyme Board Book with Interactive Sliders and QR Code for Instrumental and Vocal Versions - For Babies and Toddlers)

Sing Along With Me!

by Yu-Hsuan Huang (Illustrator)

Ride along with this interactive board book edition of the classic song that includes five slider mechanisms. A QR code inside links to both instrumental and vocal versions of the song. Simply scan the code to listen and sing along--Beep! Beep! Beep!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Transport

8 pages, Board Book

First published February 9, 2016

About the author

Yu-hsuan Huang, also known as Smallx2, started her career as an illustrator, working on editorials, picture books, and commercial projects. She also has her own illustration brand named Smohouse. She lives with her family and two lovely cats in Taiwan.

Reviews

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

Sing along to Wheels on the Bus while pulling tabs, turning wheels, and moving shapes.

Like other Nosy Crow board books in this style, this is cute, but not quite ideal for the age range. The interactive elements are sturdy and engaging. (I particularly like the swishing wiper.) The pictures are a bit too detailed for this age, and the book overall is very short--just four page spreads. I love any version of Wheels on the Bus where the babies bounce and don't cry, but I was once again confused by the full town spread on the last page, paired with the words "the horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep." This may work for one-on-one reading, but there are better storytime Wheels on the Bus choices.

[Kristi]

The QR code definitely works and the song/video is well done. The sound effects in the song work well and the text appears on the screen as the images of the book are shown. The book itself is interactive and brightly colored, with different animal passengers of varying ages. Definitely lift up the page to make the side spinners easier to spin for little fingers. I also like the last page that shows the whole town. Very well done book of a favorite sing-along song. Thank you to Nosy Crow for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

[Christina Crosland]

Fantastic for toddlers! My girl just spent a good 15 minutes listening to the song over and over while going through the book--even with just 4 pages to go through. She loves the interactive pieces that she can move. I was confused by the last page a little, buy it's not a huge deal. Would have been fun to have a horn that they could push, but it's not a deal breaker for me

[Emily]

Adorable, with clever movable tabs. I wish there were more than 4 verses, and that the movement on the last one (beep, beep, beep) was more directly related to the verse. But the illustrations are super with little details to catch on rereads. My favorite was the babies bouncing up and down, including baby alligator!

[Castor]

This sing-along book features cute characters, sturdy pages and durable slide-to-see and pull-out tabs that depict the classic "The Wheels on the Bus" rhyme. The song makes the reading/playing more entertaining. The slides are well-designed to match the lyrics except for the last one, "The horn on the bus goes beep beep beep"; no horn is depicted. It would be better if the verse were replaced with "the doors on the bus go open and shut" rather than the horn "goes beep beep beep all day long"...

[Caroline]

Might be my baby’s favorite book of all time. I love that the interactive sliders are nice and sturdy! The illustrations are really, really cute too. My baby especially loves the wipers page and the babies bouncing page. :D

[Cathy]

Miss 1.5 loves this

[Matthew Gold]

Eight pages, but it took my niece and I 20 minutes to get through because she wanted to hear the wheels on the bus page 15 times before we could move on.

[Alexa Durso]

This was honestly so cute I read this to one of my kids during snack time it was adorable

[Rosemary Walter]

1. None
2. Prek-1
3. This is a very cute book following the song; "The Wheels on the Bus". Kids will love the interactive features of this board book (spinning wheels, bouncing babies). The book has adorable drawings to illustrate the progression of the song. Perfect for independent reading after the kids know the song!
4. This is an adorable version of Wheels on the Bus. I loved the moveable aspects of the pages, and I know young kids will love that too! The colors are captivating and make the children want to read it. Perfect for read aloud and independent reading!
5. Transition
Rhyming
Independent Reading
Read Aloud

[James Blogofdad]

The premise is simple enough. A town ruled by animals* has a well-utilized bus route. The narrator takes us through various aspects of the trip around town. Without giving too much of the plot away, we are shown the wheels, the wipers (hours upon hours’ worth of entertainment for my little girl), and the behaviour of anti-social youths who (apparently encouraged by their parents) seem to have mistaken the back seat of the bus for a jumping castle.
 

Finally the story takes us to its terrifying conclusion (or lack thereof). On the final page (SPOILER ALERT) we are told that “The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep, All day long!” We are not told why this is, and so we are left to infer. Further clues are provided by the spinning wheel, which controls the moving roundabout part of the picture. It took me a few reads to realise this, but now that I’ve seen it, I can’t un-see it. The bus becomes stuck in an infinite loop on a never-ending roundabout! No wonder the driver ends up honking the horn all day long. He’s obviously been driven insane by his predicament. We are left to wonder, will they ever escape?

On the inside cover there is a QR code that takes you to an audio version of the song. We tried it once, but the pace of the song is such that I found myself madly turning the pages to keep up. From my daughter’s perspective, it took all the fun out of exploring the moving parts on each page.
The Wheels on the Bus board book may be short and have a slightly disturbing ending, but the hours of entertainment that the windscreen-wipers alone provide for my little girl earns it a place on my bookshelf and a regular spot in the rotation.
 
*Discerning toddlers, especially those familiar with The Gruffalo, may question why the mouse that rides past on a scooter isn’t hunted down and eaten by the fox, but that most likely won’t worry too many of them.

[Kristi Betts]

The title song is always a favorite for sharing with young children. This board book version is a shortened version with only four verses (wheels, wipers, babies, and horn), but can be extended by simply singing the song and making the appropriate hand / body motions. The movable parts work well with young children's small fingers and can be easily manipulated.

Nosy Crow constructs wonderful board books and for the most part this book is constructed to last. There are a few exceptions, the cover being one of them. The movable part for the cover is a pull out piece. The bus can be pulled out of the cover showing a family of elephants standing at the bus stop. The tab is easily manipulated by small fingers, but the thin coated paper covering the cardboard can be easily torn, especially the less than half an inch edge (the tree trunk) from where the tab is pulled.

A QR Code on the inside front cover of the book provides access to a free audio version of the song from the Nosy Crow podcast.

[Mikey Briccetti]

•No awards
Grade Level: Pre-k to Kindergarten
•Follow the bus all through the town in the classic song Wheels on the Bus. Watch as all the animals of the town go on their bus ride through the town. Feel as though you are actually picking up all the passengers.
•This book is great for beginning readers due to its thick pages, movable objects and color pictures. The song is simple and can be followed along by downloading the song. The problem is that since it is only the one song, switching songs is not as easy as switching books.
•This book can be used as way to start children reading in general. By using it along with the song children will be able to gain an understanding of what the word is and what it looks like. Another use for this book may be to use it to have the children create parades of the original song to increase their language.

[Cristy]

This is an illustrated version of the popular song. Toddlers will love to follow along and participate in the activity on each page. The animal illustrations are super cute and children will easily follow along with the story. The pages are sturdy so toddlers can help with the tabs on each page. There is also a QR code that can be scanned for the free audio version of the song. I would recommend this for any collection. Fans of the traditional title will love this adaptation for toddlers.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian]

Read or sing the classic song - Wheels on the Bus. Each page has one moveable piece. The verses included are wheels, wipers, up and down, and horn.

2019 storytime theme: transportation
2019 storytime: @ Festival Foods
2022 storytime @ Park w/ MJSD Early Learners
2024 storytime theme: babies transportation

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Ruth Anne]

A board book with chunky slider mechanisms. Includes a QR code to download the song.

[Kelly Scott]

My 2 year old loves this book

[Sarah]

My son loves this series and this is one of the best in the series. I bought it for friends' children as well.

[Kristen]

interactive --- great for toddlers

[Scout Collins]

Toddler I babysit is obsessed with wheels on the bus so naturally she loves this book!