Are We There, Yeti?

May 4, 2015
School bus drivers occupy a special place in children’s imaginations, so debut author-artist Anstee is on to something by transforming this authority figure into a hulking mythical beast whose name happens to sound a lot like part of a classic kid whine. Yeti takes his charges and their teacher on an extensive road trip (the landscape changes from small town to shoreline to Alpine, prompting plenty of yeti-themed punning on the theme of “Are we there yet?”) to his mountaintop habitat. From there, however, Anstee has trouble delivering on her big idea. The human children meet Yeti kids, they share some conventional wintertime fun and games, and promise to get together again. Even if the storytelling sags a bit, Anstee’s drawings show a lot of promise: rendered in a sunny palette, her artwork, a mix of digital media and painting, has the breezy look of early 1960s animation. Anstee’s bucktoothed, oversize hero and round-headed, eager-eyed children have big hearts and high spirits, and she includes just enough goofy incidental details to invite young eyes to linger. Ages 4–8. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

April 15, 2015
Good things come to those who wait. A colorful, multiracial class greets Yeti, the bus driver: "Where are we going, Yeti?" "It's a surprise!" he announces. And so everyone piles into a school bus for a ride down what appears to be a never-ending road. They traverse a variety of bright landscapes: a packed city playground; a sandy stretch where children and animals play and grown-ups lie belly-up under beach umbrellas; a mountainside adorned with skiing ducks and a sleeping unicorn. Different countrysides emerge with every spread. At a point when the class declares hunger, thirst, boredom, and a need for bathroom stops, Yeti finally announces that they have indeed arrived. But they can't be in the right place. Their puzzling destination is still, cold, and white-the obverse of the bustling landscapes they've crossed. "This is it?" asks an apprehensive boy-and then a group of young yetis emerge from their cave. The class, now wearing mittens and each paired up with a yeti buddy, frolics in the snow. One set forms snow angels; another builds a snow-yeti, while another group initiates a snowball fight. Employing a combination of expressive illustrations and simple dialogue in bubbles, Anstee delivers a simple, satisfying, if low-key debut. A nifty take on the perennial question "Are we there, yet(i)?" and a prerequisite read-aloud before a first class field trip. (Picture book. 4-8)

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June 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 2-Sans any claws and with rounded teeth, this yeti-more marshmallow than monster-makes the perfect bus driver for a class field trip. The gouache and Photoshop illustrations show a pleasant enough journey past the park, the beach, and through the countryside, with the final stop on a snowy mountaintop to visit with a group of yeti children for an interspecies cultural exchange. It is Yeti's encouragement and enthusiasm that helps all the young ones overcome their initial shyness for some fun in the snow until it's time to go. Large comic speech bubbles present the vocal, oft-repeated road trip tropes, from the title pun, to "I'm hungry/thirsty/bored," and finally "Are we home, Yeti?" Travelers, or anyone stuck in the car for extended amount of time, will easily relate. VERDICT A handy title for those looking to feature gentler monsters in their storytimes.-Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2015
Preschool-K A riff on the common refrain parents and teachers know so wellbut here children repeat this familiar phrase with a twist. They are on a bus trip, and the driver is a yeti. Impatient and squirmy, the kids ask again and again, Are we there, Yeti? but Yeti only answers, Not yet! as he drives on. Promising a surprise, Yeti drives past the park and the beach and up and down tall mountains. By now the antsy kids scream: I'm hungry! I'm bored! I'm thirsty! Eventually they shout: ARE WE THERE, YETI? A grinning Yeti answers, Yes! as they arrive at their destination high in the Himalayas. Remarkably, a swarm of yeti children come out to play. Together, the kids go sledding, make snowmen and snow angels, and have an energetic snowball fight until it's time to go. Speech bubbles and blocky cartoonlike illustrations done in gouache capture the rambunctious children. Yeti is a crudely drawn hero, sketched in off-white with big teeth and lots of personality. A romp.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)