Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Wheels on the Bus

Rate this book
The popular children's song is brought to life with colorful pictures that capture the fun of the noisiest bus ride in town. Full color.

18 pages, Board Book

First published May 2, 1991

3 people are currently reading
112 people want to read

About the author

Jerry Smath

138 books14 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
119 (48%)
4 stars
58 (23%)
3 stars
60 (24%)
2 stars
8 (3%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for E & E’s Mama.
1,024 reviews10 followers
August 15, 2021
Elliot loves this song, so we enjoy reading different versions. This had sweet illustrations and the classic words. We enjoyed it.

*library book; read at 23 months
26 reviews2 followers
March 30, 2019
Awards: none

Grade level(s): Pre K-Kindergarten

Summary: Wheels on the Bus by Jerry Smath is a colorful, illustrated song book with the lyrics of the Wheels on the Bus. It describes the different parts of the bus in a fun sing-song matter. The book is very interactive for students to sing the different sounds you may hear on the school bus.

Review: This is a great song book to teach and sing to students to introduce them the school bus and the different parts of the bus. Students love to sing along to this tune. It prepares students what it will be like to ride a school bus.

In class uses:
-Have a big school bus diagram and label the different parts of the bus with your students.
-Have a discussion with your students about how they feel to ride the school bus.
-Make up a little dance to go along with the song and teach it to your students.
Profile Image for Donald.
489 reviews33 followers
March 22, 2018
Another dang Pudgy Book. My least favorite sort of baby book is one that just takes a popular song or rhyme and puts it to pictures. At the very least, you can make additions to the song and have nice illustrations (like with the Pete the Cat version of "wheels on the bus"). This little book is just the regular lyrics to "wheels on the bus" plus the ugly Pudgy Book illustrations.

Naturally, my daughter LOVES it.
24 reviews
March 29, 2024
We used to have a helper-nanny who would sing the nursery rhyme "Wheels on the Bus" to our baby. This small boardbook is a wonderful way to put some visuals to the well-loved song. The illustrations by Jerry Smath are pretty good. It has a lot of details, so it is always interesting to talk about what's going on in the pictures. Adult interest: 8/10; Child interest: 9/10.

#jerrysmath #pudgyboardbook #1991 #1to3years #grosset&dunlap #nurseryrhymes #earlychildhoodeducation
13 reviews
July 15, 2015
"The Wheels on the Bus" is probably one of my son's favorite songs to sing, so for Christmas I went looking for a book to go illustrate the song. There were a few different options available but I picked this one because it seemed to be the best. Thankfully my son LOVES this book and I know I made a good choice. There is a lot going on in the illustrations, which create several stories on their own and several opportunities for talking about the illustrations. In the first scene we see passengers at a bus stop awaiting the arrival of the bus, and the preceding illustrations all include successive stages of their days. In the next scene it begins raining necessitating the wipers to go "swish swish swish" as it pulls up to collect the passengers, the driver yells "move on back" as they board. The horn goes "beep beep beep" sitting in city traffic, causing the three babies to go "wah wah wah". There is a little dog accompanying one of the passengers who chases a cat in the beginning, incessantly licks the reluctant bus driver, gets tossed when the bus goes "bumpity bump" and departs the bus again only to find the very same cat to chase when he gets at his destination. This is what's known as a chiasmus (when the opening part of a story repeats itself at the end). My son thinks this is hilarious and will often flip back to the beginning to make sure the cat who the dog sees is the same one. He loves the crying babies and the "shushing" parents too. This is one of his top 5 favorite books at the moment and ALWAYS grabs his attention. I highly recommend this version of the classic song, as compared to others because the illustrations are rich and provide opportunities to discuss what's going on. This board book is small enough for little hands and can be read independently or used as a diaper bag book!

Autumn @ From Papyrus to Picture Books
Profile Image for Kevin.
210 reviews
May 1, 2016
More un-American liberal propaganda about the "joys" of public transportation versus the independence of owning your own automobile. I'll keep my carbon emissions, thank you very much!

Great illustrations though.
Profile Image for Samantha Penrose.
798 reviews21 followers
August 21, 2009
There are tons of interesting things to name and talk about in the illustrations of this book. My 2 year old loves it!
Profile Image for jacky.
3,496 reviews93 followers
June 1, 2011
A fair adaption of the song. I liked that there were multiple babies for the part about babies. The words were slightly different than we know, but by no means unacceptable.
17 reviews
September 11, 2011
This was the SECOND action rhyme you learned. And LOVED doing.
Profile Image for Alisha Brook.
1,984 reviews41 followers
May 23, 2012
Love Love Love!! I was overjoyed to read this (one of my childhood favourites) to my nephews and nieces. (:
Profile Image for Kristina Silverbears.
Author 1 book1 follower
May 13, 2014
It has been years since I tried to remember the nursery rhyme. This book has brought it all back to me, and with wonderful illustrations to boot!
Profile Image for Heather Jo.
1,879 reviews9 followers
August 14, 2018
lily spring reading 2018, board book, sing along, classic, lily summer reading 2018
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
26 reviews7 followers
May 1, 2018
1. None
2. Birth-1st grade
3. This book is the classic children's song "The Wheels on the Bus". It is a catchy, repea book about different things that occur on a bus.
4. I thought that this book was pretty good, there was nothing too capturing about the book. I liked how the book said "parents on the bus" rather than other books that just say "Mommy's on the bus".
5. This book would be good to use if teaching about transportation, as well as for music.
14 reviews
Read
October 29, 2018
2. The Wheels on the Bus by Wood Works
a. No awards
b. Birth to pre-k
c. A board book that goes through the song.
d. The book was really cute. The illustrations were adorable and you can't help but sing when you read it.
I would use this with toddlers. It is good for remembering sequences and group fun.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.