The Spooky Wheels on the Bus: J. Elizabeth Mills

I was at Target today and admired this book on the shelf. When I returned home it was waiting for me in my mailbox. So I have a little inside scoop on its creation, straight from author J. Elizabeth Mills herself. I always enjoy hearing how an author came up with an idea, and here's how this book began:
"I was riding a Seattle public bus on a gray May day, listening to the rattle, bam, shake, and clatter of a bus that sounded like it was held together with Popsicle sticks and bubble gum.The preschool song The Wheels on the Bus" came into my head, and I began to imagine what a Halloween bus might sound like."

This is not a board book, but the content is appropriate for one, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it out in board book format in future. It's an 8x8 paperback with a rollicking rhyme scheme, and I predict totz will adore singing along with it this Halloween season.

It begins:

One spooky bus goes RATTLE and SHAKE,
RATTLE and SHAKE, RATTLE and SHAKE.
One spooky bus goes RATTLE and SHAKE,
All through the town.

Ben Mantle's illustrations perfectly capture the gently-silly-spooky characters. I love that the bus wheels are jack-o-lanterns.

It's the perfect book to enjoy on the bus this October!

Note that J. Elizabeth will be appearing at Secret Garden Books in Seattle on October 26, and at other bookstore, library, and school events in October.

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus
Author: J. Elizabeth Mills
Illustrator: Ben Mantle
Cartwheel, Scholastic, 2010