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One Boy Watching
Everyone knows what it feels like to be a passenger—and this book finally puts this universal feeling into words.
Climb aboard Bus Number Four as it travels along country roads and city streets, past train tracks and farm fields. Through the window, countless details rush by, just waiting to be noticed. What will you see today?
In this lyrical tribute to long rides and curious minds, author Grant Snider celebrates the extraordinary found within the ordinary, the fascinating hiding within the familiar, and the world of discovery awaiting all those who watch and wonder.
THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING A PASSENGER: An ode to staring out the window, to the daydream, and to observation. This thoughtful new picture book is a wonderful way for kids to think about their own commute to school.
COUNTING: Every morning, one boy watches . . . for two bright headlights, three big steps up, four rusty cars, and infinite wonders that can be seen along the way! Kids will enjoy counting the colorful worlds that slip by the windows on this journey.
READ ALOUD: With its contemplative and poetic lyricism, and bright, textured illustrations, this classic-feeling book is a beautiful read aloud.
Perfect for:• Parents and grandparents of introspective, introverted, or thoughtful daydreamers
• Families who commute, take road trips, or enjoy long car rides
• Fans of Grant Snider's previous titles, including What Color is Night?, What Sound is Morning? and There Is A Rainbow.
Climb aboard Bus Number Four as it travels along country roads and city streets, past train tracks and farm fields. Through the window, countless details rush by, just waiting to be noticed. What will you see today?
In this lyrical tribute to long rides and curious minds, author Grant Snider celebrates the extraordinary found within the ordinary, the fascinating hiding within the familiar, and the world of discovery awaiting all those who watch and wonder.
THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING A PASSENGER: An ode to staring out the window, to the daydream, and to observation. This thoughtful new picture book is a wonderful way for kids to think about their own commute to school.
COUNTING: Every morning, one boy watches . . . for two bright headlights, three big steps up, four rusty cars, and infinite wonders that can be seen along the way! Kids will enjoy counting the colorful worlds that slip by the windows on this journey.
READ ALOUD: With its contemplative and poetic lyricism, and bright, textured illustrations, this classic-feeling book is a beautiful read aloud.
Perfect for:• Parents and grandparents of introspective, introverted, or thoughtful daydreamers
• Families who commute, take road trips, or enjoy long car rides
• Fans of Grant Snider's previous titles, including What Color is Night?, What Sound is Morning? and There Is A Rainbow.
60 pages, Hardcover
First published June 28, 2022
1 person is currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Grant Snider
20 books686 followersGrant Snider began drawing and writing before he knew what he was doing. Soon it was too late to stop.
He is the author of the picture books WHAT COLOR IS NIGHT? and WHAT SOUND IS MORNING? and the creator of Incidental Comics. His comics were collected and published in the books THE SHAPE OF IDEAS and I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR BOOKSHELF. Grant's comics about creativity and the human condition have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Best American Comics.
Grant lives in Wichita, Kansas with his wife, daughter, and three sons, where he also practices orthodontics. You can often find him carrying a sketchbook, lost in his own thoughts.
He is the author of the picture books WHAT COLOR IS NIGHT? and WHAT SOUND IS MORNING? and the creator of Incidental Comics. His comics were collected and published in the books THE SHAPE OF IDEAS and I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR BOOKSHELF. Grant's comics about creativity and the human condition have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Best American Comics.
Grant lives in Wichita, Kansas with his wife, daughter, and three sons, where he also practices orthodontics. You can often find him carrying a sketchbook, lost in his own thoughts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
June 28, 2022
Much like the author, as a child, I grew up riding the bus to school every day until I got my driver’s license. We lived in the country quite a distance from the school, so I got on the bus at 6:50 AM and off around 4:00 PM. I also had long bus rides to check out the fields, the cows in the pasture, and the deer grazing in the early morning hours.
In this story, you follow a young boy as he starts his day getting on the bus. You’ll follow along as he travels to school as well as his ride back home after the school day. Of course, there may be a train or two to wait for, or maybe some deer to see out his window. But, there will always be a few grain bins and a water tower to mark his arrival in town.
I can’t even tell you how much this book made me feel nostalgic for my childhood. Even though the bus wasn’t always an enjoyable place…bullies liked to pick on little girls sitting by themselves….I do remember the good things about the bus ride as well. I remember the songs on the radio (70s and 80s country), the giggling with friends, and the hilly gravel roads that gave you that roller coaster feeling.
Snider, both the author and the illustrator, has created beautifully simple illustrations of countrysides using colored pencils and markers. There are very few words on the page, but the illustrations are the real star of the story. This one is a keeper and perfect for kids going on their very first school bus ride this fall.
In this story, you follow a young boy as he starts his day getting on the bus. You’ll follow along as he travels to school as well as his ride back home after the school day. Of course, there may be a train or two to wait for, or maybe some deer to see out his window. But, there will always be a few grain bins and a water tower to mark his arrival in town.
I can’t even tell you how much this book made me feel nostalgic for my childhood. Even though the bus wasn’t always an enjoyable place…bullies liked to pick on little girls sitting by themselves….I do remember the good things about the bus ride as well. I remember the songs on the radio (70s and 80s country), the giggling with friends, and the hilly gravel roads that gave you that roller coaster feeling.
Snider, both the author and the illustrator, has created beautifully simple illustrations of countrysides using colored pencils and markers. There are very few words on the page, but the illustrations are the real star of the story. This one is a keeper and perfect for kids going on their very first school bus ride this fall.
January 15, 2023
One Boy Watching is a beautifully illustrated title about many rural children’s experience, a long ride on a school bus, boarding at 7 a m and by 3 p m he things about what he may see on the long ride home where he will be the last student to depart the bus.
The colorful double page spreads show us what the young boy sees on the way to school, stopping at the railway tracks, and more children boarding the bus. All of this takes place under a big open sky, from a rural area into the local town. Sparse text tells us what is happening and allows us to become lost in the big landscape with the big yellow bus. Grant Snider is a master of color and especially when one realizes the illustrations in this title are done in colored pencils and markers, two of the very most basic art mediums. That fact made me want to run out and purchase a good set of quality colored pencils and I don’t draw. Snider is also a master of light in this title and in his previous titles and those illustrations tell me he has spent much time observing his landscape habitat in various times of day and night. By the way Snider’s day job is that of an orthodontist! This title is definitely my choice for the Caldecott 2023.
The colorful double page spreads show us what the young boy sees on the way to school, stopping at the railway tracks, and more children boarding the bus. All of this takes place under a big open sky, from a rural area into the local town. Sparse text tells us what is happening and allows us to become lost in the big landscape with the big yellow bus. Grant Snider is a master of color and especially when one realizes the illustrations in this title are done in colored pencils and markers, two of the very most basic art mediums. That fact made me want to run out and purchase a good set of quality colored pencils and I don’t draw. Snider is also a master of light in this title and in his previous titles and those illustrations tell me he has spent much time observing his landscape habitat in various times of day and night. By the way Snider’s day job is that of an orthodontist! This title is definitely my choice for the Caldecott 2023.
December 22, 2022
An atmospheric PB with real feeling; it's rare. Beguiling and beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJNNp...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJNNp...
September 24, 2022
The illustration colors in this book are gorgeous. A reminder that a simple activity, like riding the bus, can help you remember to slow down and notice all around you in life.
March 18, 2022
A thoughtful ode to the experience of simply gazing out a window on a long ride. This book is aimed toward children 3-5, but I read this with my 6 and 8 year old and they were enthralled. It's a thoughtful and introspective read in that it covers a lot of pages and really takes you into the experience of this boy's long bus ride. He lives in a rural area and is the first one on the bus and the last one off. Through his long ride he simply gazes out the window, taking in the world as it comes to him. It's a depiction of a slow and quiet boy in the midst of what appears to be a full bus of kids! Of course not every child on the bus is thoughtfully gazing out the window, but I think children reading this book (or being read to) will really take on the experience of the main boy. It's lovely and I like the celebration of a screen-free riding experience. It might seem boring but it the experience is what you make of it. An important message for our over-stimulated culture.
***Note: I was given a review copy of this book via Chronicle Books. Opinions are my own.
***Note: I was given a review copy of this book via Chronicle Books. Opinions are my own.
July 27, 2022
This was a beautifully illustrated children's book about a boy who lives in a rural area and how he is the first one on the bus each morning and a little about his ride to school and back. It is similar to my experience growing up and I think that is why I like it so much. It is written simply, counting various things he sees on the way (houses, chickens, deer), and the beauty of the sunrise and the world around him as he goes to school. Lovely book.
July 26, 2022
Growing up in a rural area, I too rode the bus to school every day, bumping down country roads, trying my best to stay awake in the morning by gazing out the window at the passing landscape of farmhouses, cows, and open fields that stretched on for miles. This book took me right back to those times and made me remember it all like it was yesterday.
August 31, 2022
Early in the morning, a young boy watches as the Number Four school bus approaches. He's the first one on the bus and as it travels along the country roads, he catalogues all that he sees out the window, like a gnarled tree, three deer, four rusty cars, seven wild sunflowers, three pecking chickens. It is "one bus ride at sunrise under an infinite sky" and "one boy daydreaming" as more and more kids climb aboard the bus. It is a long bus ride into town and school and eventually there are "Forty-eight kids packed like crayons in a crayon box" by the time it reaches school in the city. School buses are usually portrayed and noise, chaotic, or a land of bullies, but in the reflective story, readers see another side of a long ride to school and seem to be encouraged to observe instead and to see what there is out there in both nature and the man made world. The text is simple and lyrical, with just a few words on each page, and relying on the illustrations to complete each observation. I love the colorful color pencil and marker illustrations. They have an innocent childlike feel to them, almost as if they were done by our young observer himself. Perhaps that is because so much of this story is autobiographical for the author, recounting his ride to and from school each day.
December 30, 2022
This book has COLOR going for it. Eye-catching color. But beside that... I wasn't drawn-in by the illustrative details themselves (though, I'm telling you, those colors!) nor the strange numeral/counting-based descriptions of a child's (overly-long?) bus ride to school. But perhaps the author/illustrator is a fantastic orthodontist.
September 5, 2023
Will your little ones be riding the school bus this fall through the countryside to school? If so, I encourage you to read this beautiful new picture book with them, which portrays what life is like for a boy who lives in a rural community and must ride on the big yellow bus every day to get to school. You’ll get to follow along with the young boy as he starts his day getting on the bus, traveling along country roads and then on the much anticipated journey back home after the school day. Of course, there may be a train or two to wait for, picturesque fields of round hay bales to drive by and he might even see some deer out his bus window during his travels. There will always be the two familiar water towers to mark his arrival and departure from town though! Grant Snider who is both the author and illustrator of this book, has created beautifully simple illustrations of country landscapes using coloured pencils and markers. There are very few words on each page, but the illustrations that look so familiar to us who live in the country are the real star of the story. It is quite rare to find picture books about children living in rural communities, so it was a real treat to discover this treasure that is sure to resonate with readers in Lennox & Addington County! The story teaches us to celebrate the extraordinary found within the ordinary and take time to notice the fascinating things hiding in plain sight within our familiar surroundings. Finally, both the young and old will adore this heartwarming book that will take adults back to a time when they spent every day riding the bus to school, and it is an absolutely perfect story for children going on their very first school bus ride this fall.
August 17, 2022
You can almost hear the sounds of the school bus and see the passing early-morning countryside in this evocative picture book.
February 2, 2023
My first experience riding the bus to school was not until my high school years. Prior to that I had two very easy walks - both less than a neighborhood block - to both my elementary and middle school. Still, I quickly learned that riding the bus for a few miles- day after day, week after week - could be monotonous. Being a keen observer of ordinary things like buildings, businesses, people; the changing of the seasons, or just passing traffic, can make the ride more interesting. Grant Snider's brightly illustrated picture book is all about that "journey". Early in the morning a boy is the first to board Bus #4 and to set off through mainly country roads and rural landscapes to his elementary school, and hours later, back home. It is a simple premise and one that millions of children do each day. Snider's memory of a daily ride; and the many things he would see through the window, is a great book to share with a class or a group. The colored pencil and marker illustrations are bright and colorful - they convey a sense of movement, as well as having a childlike quality, it is as if the boy in the story was creating them himself (kind of like a travelogue). I also feel that this was a sort of a memoir of part of Snider's youth; he found a way to make a long part of his school day more unique and interesting.
February 5, 2023
I truly enjoyed this picture book, several times through it. The lively, childlike crayon art appealed at the start, then grew even more appealing as two different lines reference the 48 bus riders being packed together, individually distinct, and finally spilling out as a comparison to a box of crayons.
The "ONE BOY" is the first passenger on this rural school bus route, the one with the longest ride. His occupation during long rides (sometimes made longer when a train is signaled on the tracks they must cross) is to observe, to notice, to count what he sees along the way. This number-naming of observed items, buildings, animals, etc. allow even young/beginning readers to succeed with familiar words and connect to illustration that allow confirmation of their attempts to read.
Even the youngest who have not yet ridden a school bus will find reassurance in the images, activities, and mental meanderings of this ONE BOY. The circle story pattern of a school day, anchored by his reliable yellow school bus, endears both this boy and his story to me.
I suspect it will do the same for readers from youngest to way-past-school-age!
The "ONE BOY" is the first passenger on this rural school bus route, the one with the longest ride. His occupation during long rides (sometimes made longer when a train is signaled on the tracks they must cross) is to observe, to notice, to count what he sees along the way. This number-naming of observed items, buildings, animals, etc. allow even young/beginning readers to succeed with familiar words and connect to illustration that allow confirmation of their attempts to read.
Even the youngest who have not yet ridden a school bus will find reassurance in the images, activities, and mental meanderings of this ONE BOY. The circle story pattern of a school day, anchored by his reliable yellow school bus, endears both this boy and his story to me.
I suspect it will do the same for readers from youngest to way-past-school-age!
December 31, 2022
First, the illustrations in this books are so vibrant and colorful that I didn’t want to take my eyes off any of the pages. Second, the simple text complimented those gorgeous illustrations and totally brought the story together. I grew up in town in a rural community, so unfortunately I rarely rode the bus (except Tuesdays after school to go to piano lessons), but I am CERTAIN anyone reading this book who DID ride the bus or is currently riding the bus, will very much be able to relate to it. Great book!
January 15, 2023
If you remember bus rides with dirt roads, train tracks, waiting for actual trains or long bus rides because you were the first kid on/last kid off, this book is for you.
It was refreshing to read about the author at the end of the book and learn that his bus rides in 1990s Kansas were not that different from the mid 1970s bus rides of my early school years. A green van took a dozen of us home from my half-day kindergarten class. Not only were there bumps and dirt roads, there were long driveways and kids who got dropped off at their front step.
It was refreshing to read about the author at the end of the book and learn that his bus rides in 1990s Kansas were not that different from the mid 1970s bus rides of my early school years. A green van took a dozen of us home from my half-day kindergarten class. Not only were there bumps and dirt roads, there were long driveways and kids who got dropped off at their front step.
April 8, 2024
This was a beautiful and calming book. The illustrations were spectacular and would fill up every single page. Author and illustrator Grant Snyder did a great job at encapsulating the busy but beautiful ride on the yellow school bus. I love how it mentioned there were 28 kids in the school bus and exactly that amount was carefully drawn with water colors. I believe this a great book to have in a class and to incorporate math into lessons. I also believe this book would be great for Multilingual language learners since it provides new vocabulary that is also illustrated throughout each page.
January 8, 2026
A beautiful book that zooms in on a long bus ride. The imagery is given using mostly phrases and single word sentences that explores a boy’s observations. Numbers categorize everything the boy examines.
This would be a great book to teach children how to write detailed observations using precise adjectives, different types of sentences, similes, and ellipses. This can also be used for observation activities asking students to find groups of items in numerical patterns or sequencing activities that ask students to sequence their morning or any other routine.
This would be a great book to teach children how to write detailed observations using precise adjectives, different types of sentences, similes, and ellipses. This can also be used for observation activities asking students to find groups of items in numerical patterns or sequencing activities that ask students to sequence their morning or any other routine.
April 3, 2023
A very nice and simple picture book. As every review notices, the brightly colored pictures are the book's main strength. Following a young boy as he gets on a school bus a rides to school, each page shows a site with a particular number of objects: five houses, three cows, etc... The artwork is pastel done in loving detail, and I appreciated the attention to showing the distinctive features of a midwestern small town that's rarely shown in any medium.
July 4, 2023
I read this book as an adult reader for the AR Diamond Book Award. The story is all about a boy riding the school bus to/from school every day and all of the things that he gets to see during his ride. There wasn't much else to the story. He rides, he sees things, and other kids ride the bus too and have different experiences (they play, talk, get carsick, sleep, etc.). What really made this book was the illustrations throughout. Simply beautiful!
July 26, 2022
Absolutely beautiful colored pencil illustrations that resemble water colors! This is a minimalist chronicle of a little boy’s day starting at the bus ride to school and ending at the bus ride home. While it might be a good book for counting, I found the story lackluster and the illustrations a bit too small in places if this book was focusing on counting.
October 19, 2022
While it's not a first day of school book, it's about a boy riding the bus on his long journey from his home in a rural area to the town where his school is. More of a celebration of bus rides and all that happens during them. Sparse text allows you to focus on the colored pencil and marker illustrations and imagine what the boy is thinking. What can you see as you ride by?
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December 13, 2022No rating b/c children's books.
I got this off an article of the best children's books of 2022 since good reads choice awards sucks and won't give children's books it's own category.
This one was fun and colorful, and I can see how it combines those who's minds are number focused and exploration and the world around them.
I got this off an article of the best children's books of 2022 since good reads choice awards sucks and won't give children's books it's own category.
This one was fun and colorful, and I can see how it combines those who's minds are number focused and exploration and the world around them.
December 17, 2022
Love it! Bright, colorful illustrations about a ride to school on a school bus.
I am surprised that the illustrations are not done in crayon (it looks like it is, but the copyright page says colored pencil and marker) and because author Grant Snider twice uses clever reference to a box of crayons in his succinct text.
I am surprised that the illustrations are not done in crayon (it looks like it is, but the copyright page says colored pencil and marker) and because author Grant Snider twice uses clever reference to a box of crayons in his succinct text.
March 6, 2023
A lone boy waits for Bus Number Four, and he is the first one to start the fifty minute ride from his country farm to the city to attend school. During the ride he notices several different things along the way, trains, flowers, landscapes, all which helps to peak his imagination along the journey.
March 15, 2023
A counting book, but not consecutive numbers. Almost but not quite everything is countable on page (train horn sounds for example are not); I was very impressed that the 48 kids on the bus really are all shown and countable. Numbers are shown as English words only.
I really liked the colored pencil illustrations here of a long school bus ride.
I really liked the colored pencil illustrations here of a long school bus ride.
May 11, 2023
This book has, without a doubt, the most beautiful illustrations I have ever witnessed. I'm a librarian by trade and at heart, but I am also a school bus driver. I appreciate that for the most part the kids in the illustrations are behaving safely, and the narrator identifies safe behaviors for driving at train tracks. Brilliant. I love it.
June 2, 2023
These are two of the books from the New York Times Best Children's Books of 2022. The Billy Goats Gruff book is a refreshing rewrite of that story. There are other children's books that could use a similar rewrite. I love the art work with neon colors in One Boy Watching. It's a delight to see and read.
November 3, 2023
This book is quite different than most in the best way. It’s powerful images and simple words tell a unique story about “one boy watching”. Each page the boy notices something different and observes what is happening. This book could even be used for a math lesson because of the numbers used on each page.
August 16, 2025
I first learned about this book yesterday from the author. I’m on his email newsletter list. He said he was sharing it again to celebrate the first day of school. I love the colorful drawings, especially of the sunflowers. But not much happens in the story. It’s mostly about looking out the bus window.
July 15, 2022
One Boy Watching has such strong setting & would be a perfect back-to-school book.
In this quiet story, a boy takes an ordinary bus ride; he waits for the bus, takes a journey full of sights, & then embarks -already thinking about his next ride.
Simple & perfect.
In this quiet story, a boy takes an ordinary bus ride; he waits for the bus, takes a journey full of sights, & then embarks -already thinking about his next ride.
Simple & perfect.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews