The Wrong Bus

July 1, 2012
Grades 2-4 Thanks to his mom's blanket conviction that hospitals, funeral homes, and cemeteries are no places for kids, grieving Jack has no chance to say goodbye to his beloved Grandpa Nod, who drove his school bus. The day after the funeral, an unnumbered bus pulls up to the stop and Grandpa Nod cheerily invites Jack on board for a magical mystery tour that gives him a chance to stand beside a hospital bed, look at empty caskets in a mortuary, share a moment of togetherness at a public playground, and, finally, to visit the place where his grandparents are buried. Though swirls of starry sparkles in some of the black-and-white illustrations add a saccharine note, in the story itself Jack soberly takes in each scene, asks cogent questions ( Why did you die? Couldn't they fix you? ), and absorbs his grandpa's comforting responses ( They did what they could. And I'm much better now. ) while quietly demonstrating that, given just a little distance, heand, by extension, young children in generalis indeed capable of comprehending and coping with the loss of loved ones.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)