Bus! Stop!

by James Yang, James Yang (Illustrator)

Overview

Geisel Award–winning artist James Yang’s Bus! Stop!, now available in board book!

“Bus! Stop!” a boy yells, as his bus pulls away one early morning. He must wait for the next bus. The next one does NOT look like his bus at all. And neither does the next one, or the next. But these other buses look much more interesting than his bus. Should he try a different one?

Here is a book with few words and delightful illustrations that shows very young children that trying something new can be a lot of fun.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593694718
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/13/2025
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 5.25(h) x 0.57(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

James Yang is the author and illustrator of several acclaimed picture books, including A Boy Named Isamu, which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor, and Stop! Bot!, which won the Geisel Award. His work has appeared in publications like Graphis, Newsweek, Forbes, Fortune, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. You might have seen some of his art in many of New York City’s subway cars! He lives in Brooklyn.
You can visit him at JamesYang.com or follow him on Instagram @YangBlog.

Editorial Reviews

Raves for Bus! Stop!:

★ "Graphically inventive.... Yang’s stylized, offbeat characters and 'buses' give this story of transportation lost and found a quirky universality."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Weird and delightful.... An imaginative, fun ode to bus travel and its many minor surprises."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

…ingenious…The words are simple, and Yang's witty art is built to last.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

★ 12/18/2017
Yang (Puzzlehead) dedicates his graphically inventive book to “all the nice bus drivers who waited as I ran toward the bus.” Alas, such is not the good fortune of his young hero, who has just missed his bus to school (hence the title). Oh well, there’s always another bus, right? But the vehicles that subsequently show up don’t seem to be headed to school. Triangular creatures use their propeller heads to board one that rides on tall, spindly legs; there’s a covered wagon bus for cowpokes; and one that resembles a bounce house holds passengers who look and move like big rubber balls. As reality becomes increasingly fungible and funny (an ocean liner pulls up at one point), the boy finally hops on a bus that looks like a cross between a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon and a spaceship. The book’s low-slung format echoes the horizontal shape of the buses, the text’s word balloons, and the long stretches of city streets, and Yang’s stylized, offbeat characters and “buses” give this story of transportation lost and found a quirky universality. Ages 2–5. Agent: David Goldman, David Goldman Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

02/01/2018
PreS-Gr 1—An orange-faced boy misses his bus but is rewarded with a parade of wacky vehicles that soon follow. A group of triangle-people wearing propeller beanies rise into the air to catch a bus on elevated wheels. "THAT is NOT my bus," the hero declares. He also forgoes the covered wagon that fills up with cowpokes, a boat loaded up with sailors, and a bouncy house truck that's enjoyed by balloon-shaped people. "Maybe I should have taken THAT bus." He finally hails a striped floating raft with an animal face whose passengers are varied. As they float away, the boy sees a girl rushing to catch the this bus—but she misses it, completing the circle. The long horizontal format enhances the quirkiness of the tale, which progresses from day to night, and includes a pair of bird cohorts to find on each spread. VERDICT Humor suitable for all ages sets an example of how to think creatively while waiting. Yang's refreshing offering will appeal to anyone who has ever missed a bus.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

School Library Journal

2017-12-06
A young bus rider's misfortune turns weird and delightful in Yang's playful picture book.The title page sets the scene: passengers line up by a bright red bus-stop sign. Turn the page and see the back end of a moving bus as a boy runs after it. The boy, of course, doesn't catch up. Meanwhile, some anthropomorphic triangles take their place at the bus stop, while a green vehicle peeks out on the right page. The subsequent double-page spread reveals a long, tall bus full of triangle-shaped passengers. Naturally, the boy is shocked. "THAT is NOT my bus." The boy watches it roll away as cowboys and a cowgirl waltz into the scene. Their ride? It's a covered wagon, big and long…like a bus. "It does not look like MY bus," says the boy as the covered wagon retreats and in comes a trio of sailors. Yang establishes a pattern from the get-go, piling on the outlandish and the fab (a bounce house in a domed bus?) in broad strokes. Drab, square buildings serve as a city backdrop, while color and curves bring to life the buses and passengers (varied in skin color and shape—the protagonist is orangey-brown). The sparse text pops up in small bursts to punctuate the proceedings. When the boy takes a chance on a cool-looking balloon bus, it's a small triumph.An imaginative, fun ode to bus travel and its many minor surprises. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Review