Buses Books

We got this book for our son; originally, from the local library... we had to get it out several times, as it quickly became his favorite. Eventually, we bought it to add to our collection.

The book brings the simple interactive song, The Wheels on the Bus" to life as each verse is wonderfully illustrated with artwork that captures a child's attention and provides LOTS of visual stimulation and teaching points. Vibrant colors, interesting people and actions make the beautifully simple song something you can sit down with your child and read over and over, pointing out new things...

We read the book, sing with the book, make the hand movements/gestures, go into detail about the vignettes presented in the back-story, use our imagination, object, action and color recognition, it's a great way to connect educationally and in a simple, entertaining way.

This book is up there with "Green Eggs and Ham" "You Are Special" "Guess How Much I Love You" and "Go Dog Go" as a key component of any young child's library.

Your decision should not be "if" I get this book for a child, but whether you get the board book, paper book, or both!

My 2 year old daughter loves this book. Nice illustrations and very simple. My daughter picks up the book and sings it herself. Great for boys or girls!

My sister is a principal and highly recommeded this book for my grandchildren. THey love to read and sing so what better gift than to have it all wrapped into one.

Timing is everything to read this book, which is really a song. Although the notes are at the end to hint how the words should be read, without hearing it sung first and reading it out loud in a dull monotonous fashion a toddler may look at the reader as if to ask "Why bother?" Then I heard it on one of the CDs and now the words flow beautifully and make me read and read, read and read, all through the night.

I bought this when my daughter was 13 months, and after 7 months she still loves this book. There are different people in the bus - adults, kids, elderly, pets, etc., and many things happening on and off the bus.

When my daughter refuses to drink her milk, I'll turn to the page where the baby is happily drinking from the bottle, then she will take her cup and start drinking.

Try Raffi's CD as well. He sang the song to a cheerful tones with kids in the background - my daughter loves it.

Very interesting book! It's great to hear stories of what went on behind the scenes while making some of the greatest movies of Hollywood'd golden era (and beyond). Heston's writing style is very easy to follow and it's a pleasant read. He comes across as a regular midwestern guy who just happened to have a spectacular ability to act. I love this book and am glad I bought it.

A good autobiography is one in which you can hear the author audibly speaking out the book in your head as your read. Certainly you have that in the Arena. It will be a long time before I get the voice of Charlton Heston out of my head.

Summary: This book does have some politics in it but it is far from politically correct. One thing is certain about Charlton Heston: He speaks candidly about his opinions, and holds no punches for doing so. With that said this is not a book about politics. The final chapter is fabulously written pointing out the facts and ending strong words of encouragement for America.

I picked up this book to learn insight into the background of some of the movies that he had performed in. Not only did I find that but I also found a man rich in conviction and commitment. How many men stay with their first love, and how fewer are those numbers counted as individuals in the entertainment industry? Heston's commitment to his wife Lydia shows his real character.

The only negative that I can find in this book is Chapter 20. For some odd reason Heston breaks his chronological order for only this chapter. This chapter is primarily about his stage plays and it tends to ramble on over 40 pages, I can almost imagine that somehow this chapter missed the editors cut. This chapter isn't as well written as the others and is difficult reading in that the storyline jumps around quite a bit. In all honesty, you could skip this chapter all together and go right to 21.

Breakdown Review:
Storyline: I give 4 out of 5 stars simply because of the inconsistency of chapter 20.

Writing style: 5 out of 5 stars. It is written in the way that you would imagine Charlton Heston speaking. Rich and free.

Depth/Inspiration: 5 out of 5 stars. This was only a 3 ranking until chapter 22. I would have preferred he put more information in about his personal relationships and religious beliefs. If you only read one chapter read 22. Very inspirational for the American reader.

Entertainment/Education value: 5 out of 5 stars. Definitely an entertaining novel, one that is quite difficult to put down once you get into it. This book is educational not only on Mr. Heston's life but also on how movies are directed and a slight insight into the internal workings of the motion picture industry.

This is a great book. If you are a fan of Mr. Heston's work, then you will most certainly enjoy this book. I read it because I love his movies so much, and I very much admire the man. Reading this book just increased that admiration. The book also offers many insights into the movie making process behind the scenes, directors, producers, actors, etc. Heston's writing is easy to follow, with many observations about numerous topics offered for thought. Lets face it, Heston is one of THE greats of all time, and will always be.

Charlton Heston's autobiography is a wonderful journey of his life, from shy teenager to Hollywood legend! A director/actor who has helped in recreating history, not only on film, but on the stage too, with some of the biggest names in the acting arena. His book reflects, with great wit,love and affection his personal life; with the love of his life of more than 60 years, his wife, Lydia, his co-stars, his directors' and his love affair with his work. His book is honest and gives his fans an indepth look at what it's like to be one of the greatest actors that ever walked on this planet. I highly recommend it! I wrote to him this week, as you know, he is not in good health, we wish him well. There is only one Ben Hur!

Charlton Heston's larger-than-life screen presence comes through on every page of his wonderful 1995 autobiography, which is a really great read. Heston grew up poor in the woods of northern Michigan, where he was lonely and painfully shy. He gained confidence in his high school's senior play, and as he says, he never looked back. He won a university scholarship, and there he had his first-ever date. Her name was Lydia; she was an acting student, and they have been happily married now for over 60 years.

Heston began his career on the stage; he loves acting in and directing plays, especially Shakespeare, and has done almost as many plays as movies. We get all the fascinating behind-the-scenes stories, learn which movies he is most proud of and those that make him cringe, the co-stars he admired and those he didn't. He has no false modesty about his power as an international movie star, yet he comes across as a genuinely nice man who treasures his family.

Fans of Charlton Heston are sure to enjoy this heartfelt autobiography.

Kona

I bought this book for my 16 month old grandson......he just loves it and when I ask him to bring me a book to read to him he most often pick this one out of all his book.
Great Choice.

My daughter aged 2, loves this book, she sings along and loves turning the pages and looks forward to the party at the end.

This book was a super choice for my 13 month old grand daughter. When she comes over, she goes for this book and she studies each page as I sing the words to her.

My 13 month old daughter loves this book and likes to listen as I sing along when we read this book. She also likes to poke her fingers through the holes and has a great time. Overall a good book.

Very nice illustrations. Every time my baby reads it she notices some new character and thats very exciting for her. Each page is packed with action.

The book reads nice and presents the material clearly and smoothly. I recommend this book for every student working in this area.
Lots of material that seems confusing when reading other references, are clear in this book.

I was very disappointed with this book. It covers a very useful subject, but it is not well written. Almost every section was done better in other books covering the same material. It will be hard to prove how bad this book is, since on the surface everything seems to be there. However, as somebody who have read many books on this subject it was painful to read this one. It is more like a cut and paste job putting together well-known material without any new insights.

Despite its shortcomings, people who are not familiar with this subject can find this book remarkable and very useful.

Suggested Reading:

Howard Johnson's "Black Magic" and "Advanced Black Magic" books are definitely more pleasant to read while at a similar basic level. More advanced books on the same subjects include the classic work " Electromagnetic Compatibility" by Clayton Paul and of course most books on Microwave engineering. Brian Young's "Digital Signal Integrity"-although being less practical is a nicely done basic book discussing modeling and simulation of signal integrity.

Well organized book that does not skip on details. It explains in a clear and concise manner transmission line issues such as reflections, the why's and how's of matching impedance, and crosstalk among others.

Great explanations, with good examples. It is a very easy and interesting read, at the same time going into needed detail of high speed digital signalling issues. My course uses Digital Systems Engineering by Dally as text, but I find myself reading this book instead to get a better understanding, as it is clearer and better organized. Coming in really handy for my upcoming exam review!

This book is excellent. As an experienced I.C. designer, I found practical information about interconnect theory and design practices. The book was well written; a good balance between theory and problem solving. The information is useful from the chip level to the outside world.

Entertaining examples of probability, statistics, trigonometry. If you are interested in problemsolving and critical thinking skills, this book is a gem!

Things aren't always what people just "know" they are. A little math and a little intelligence will separate you from the rest of the world.
If you believe in old wives tales, this book will open your eyes. (Sorry Mom.)

This lovely little book never fails to bring revelation as I read through the chapters. Praise should be given to the authors, not only for their insights in revealing the mathematical basis of ordinary issues, but also for their enthusiasm in promoting popular science through this successful work.

Interesting examples from daily life capable of arousing curiosity were utilized to illustrate otherwise "serious" mathematical concepts: temperature of shower water (negative-feedback), dating (game-theory), "wonder numbers" in nature (golden ratio), bad luck (probability)......etc. Concepts were well-elaborated, conducted in a comprehensive and attractive, but never shallow or over-simplified, manner. The authors were just good at alluring readers to think and explore things more than "skin-deep", beyond what they seems like at surface. The writing style is attractive and humorous.

This book is of immense value in enhancing reasoning, critical thinking and, most importantly, appreciation of life itself. Highly recommended.

While I was originally turned off by the title, which not only suggested an extremely narrow subject matter, but seemed pointed toward a younger audience (I have degrees in computer science and mathematics), I ended up reading it with great enthusiasm, usually unable to put it down for two or more hours at a time. The authors have searched far and wide for mathematical 'optical-illusions' that occur in a very broad range of everyday matters.

To put the sheer amount of subject matter crammed into this modestly sized book into perspective, the question posed by the title takes only a page or a page and a half of the book. The author(s) go from topic to topic quite rapidly, insuring that readers will never get bored. If you want indepth information, you're free to go elsewhere, but in few other places will you find so many amusing and surprising mathematical tidbits in one place.

This is a book that belongs on every elementary- and undergraduate-level instructor's bookshelf. What I remember most about my early education and what prompted me to go further in mathematics were the unintuitive ideas such as are presented in this book so well and so entertainingly. The 'birthday phenomenon' is a good example of a completely unintuitive phenomenon described by Eastaway; take a class of more than a mere 23 students, and there is a greater than 50% chance two of them will have the same birthday. How can this be so? There are 365 days in a year! There is a simple, easily understandable explanation to this. (And to illustrate my earlier point, this was honestly the only specific thing I remembered my professor explaining from my intro to statistics class).

There are probably a hundred or so examples of such mysteries presented in this book. I sincerely believe readers at all levels will enjoy the content as much as I did.

The two messages of this book are that mathematics is important to everyday life, and that it's fun. Like the earlier books of Martin Gardener, this book aims to make mathematics relevant and accessible, but with a British rather than American slant.

Have you ever wondered why flowers often have five petals, how bookies' odds work, how you always end up in the slowest queue, or, indeed, why buses come in threes? If so, then this is the book for you.

In the course of a humorous, chatty discourse on the mysteries of life the authors introduce a number of branches of mathematics, including probability, topology, statistics and queuing theory, to name just a few.

To aid casual readers or those who've previously found the subject forbidding the maths is kept at a fairly simple level. However there's still enough detail to be useful in other applications. I used this book as a reminder when trying to solve a problem related to software performance, and others who don't exercise their maths every day might also find it a useful memory jogger.

Whether as an introduction if you've never enjoyed maths before, or a reminder if you have, I thoroughly recommend this book. I can also recommend the companion volume "How Long is a Piece of String?"

This book doesn't hold my two-year-old's attention. The colors in the book is dull and the story is boring. It asks the readers to find certain things, so it doesn't encourage speaking. The objects are printed small so it's hard to point at them.

I bought this book for my son after seeing it in the library. I have a used board book version, which is in FANTASTIC condition. I find this book is EXTREMELY durable, and would recommend getting a used one if this is for your own child.

My son was ONE when we purchased it, and loved it enough to ask for it every day for several months. Now he's almost 2.5, it was at the bottom of the pile for awhile, but now he loves it all over again. WE both love the colorful pictures, and there are cute things to look for, things that you may not notice the first few times you go through it. LIke the driver in one car has a somewhat angry expression, like he wants to run over the lady that is crossing the street. I think it's funny, it's not obvious and cruel, just something that as a grown up, you may notice, that flies over the child's head. Or like, on the hospital page, the patients are Green... get it? green, sick? Too cute! ANd one guy is wrapped up in bandages like a mummy from head to toe. Each page has things it asks you to point out. But you can easily find more things for the child to notice. My son just loves it. I think it is especially appealling to kids that like cars, trucks and busses. But girls will like it too... it's not full of those things, but there are enough of them in there. It is so colorful, and it's fun to ask the child to find an orange car, or a yellow house. There's even a little kitty cat wandering in the crowd on the marketplace page.

This is a very sweet book for a child... I'd say from One - Four years old, but I have no doubt mine love it enough to thumb through it himself when he's older, or maybe it will be a book he learns to read from. Great overall, I'd say one of our top 10 books! It's my favorite book in the "it doesn't have a deep message, and doesn't rhyme" category.

We have many Taro Gomi books, in both English and Japanese. His graphics are always amazing, and this gem is at the top of the list. The English translation here is great (as opposed to the dreadful "Where's the Fish?"), and my child loves the story of the bus as is winds through town. Especially nice is the touch near the end, where WE get off the bus at our house, placing the child into the story, then the driver gets off the bus at the end. Cute and snappy, a work of art that will engage child and parent alike.

My daughter has loved this book since she was a year old. At 2.5 years she still loves seeing where the bus goes on its route, who gets off, who misses the bus...She loves to answer the simple questions on each page. (Parents can always ask different questions when they get bored). The text and pictures are just right for the pre-speaking to pre-school age child. There is something on every page to captivate even the youngest child yet, there are so many interesting little details that older children remain interested. And for parents, get this, the bus stops at a movie set and who's in the director's chair but Akira Kurosawa with his white hat and sunglasses. Oh and who's that bearded actor? Toshiro Mifune. No kidding. This book is THAT cool.

My 20-month old loves this book, and with good reason. It's a fantastic example of a book that can grow with a toddler; at first he was most interested in the buses, then started noticing the cars, moved onto the trees, and now loves all the little people. It's a sweet book, gentle in tone. My toddler will spend 15 minutes at a time reading this one with me.

Have you ever rode the school bus?Did you have a nice bus driver and then you got a mean bus driver?If you want the experience read Dont get driving the school bus to learn how it feels.

I have read alot of books but this the is the first book I dont want to put down.This book is about a kid named Kyle who thinks he is the class clown.After school he gets on the bus and he has a bad bus driver who will get you in trouble if you switch seats. He used to have to try to get the mean bus driver to quit.

I like that the book has a related part because I am a sixth grader like kyle and his friends.

I realy recommend this book to people who like read books about a trouble maker.you should read this book because you will wet your pants with laughter.

ISABEL

Kyle, Dusty and Willson have pretty much broken every rule in the school.Kyle the nice guy who noone expects, and can talk his way out of anything.Willson also know as Mr. Wizard can pretty much invent anything.Then Dusty who thinks of evil plans. Together they can do anything they want. but i guess i can't forget about the Single Digits. They are little kids who are the most annoying and can annoy you to death.Right now They have the nicest bus driver bit things turn for th worst. In this book the setting takes place in a school The school is elementary and middle school. Then there is the school bus a bright yellow stuby bus ,it lookes like they ran out of seats and windows so they stoped building it. So one sunny morning Kyle, Dusty and Willson get on the bus only to find that instead of their nice bus driver there's a mean bus driver named Sarge.Sarge trys to to catch kyle, Dusty and Willson doing something bad all the time but they manage to stay out of getting in trouble.Then they find out that because they left a box of wasps on the bus onthe bus for science their old bus driver was stung and couldn'tcome back to work. To make matters worse they almost get in trouble for glueing the Single Digits to there saets and for tying there shoelaces together. After a couple of days they find out that the principal cancled the bus route. so they think of one final plan to annoy Sarge to death so he quiets . but the plan goes all wrong.Sarge stops the bus and yells at themall! It get's worse there were stoped on train traks and the train was comeing!Sarge hits his head head and can't drivethe bus !! So kyle takes the wheel and drives out of the traks but he can't stop!! He ends up in jail!!But kyle ,Dusty and Willson tell the storyand end up heros!! I think the lesson to learn is not to drive the school bus or try to get in trouble It's just not worth it. I highly recommend this book to anyone it's funny interesting and cool.

Don't Get Caught Driving the School Bus
By: Todd Strasser

Don't Get Caught Driving the School Bus is about three boys: Wilson, Kyle, and Dusty, who are bad. They break almost every rule in their school. They put a wasp's nest in the school bus and the wasps hurt the old bus driver, a.k.a "Grandma". Then Sarge, a former prison bus driver, is their new bus driver. Sarge lets Kyle drive the bus when they're right on a train track! Sarge jumps to get in the driver's seat and he hits a pole, which knocks him out. Then guess what? You'll have to read, "Don't Get Caught Driving the School Bus."
I liked this book because it was funny. At some parts, I laughed out loud. If I had to rate this book on a scale of 1-10, it would definitely be a 10.
Todd Strasser has written many novels for children of all ages. He is one of my favorite authors and if you read one of his books I bet he will be one of yours too.

Kyle, Dusty, and Wilson are always in trouble. Now Grandma (bus driver) is being replaced by a old prison bus driver. They do everything they can to get rid of the new bus drive (Sarge). Now they put themselves, Sarge, and the single digits in a life and death situation...

Kyle, Dusty, and Wilson are always in trouble. From the carelessness of eachother, they accidently left a wasp's nest in the school bus. Poor Grandma (the bus driver) was replaced by an old prison bus driver because she was sent to the hospital. Kyle, Dusty, and Wilson do everything trying toget rid of him. Now they have put themselves, the single digits, and the bus driver in a life and death situation.

NYC is the mecca for buses and this transit bus book gives a nice synopsis of some of its bus operators. I hope that in the future, there will be other bus books produced about this city's buses, especially from the more modern era, 1980s onward.

bought it for my partner. his uncle is in one of the pictures. we didn't know that. fast delivery too.cheers.

This is a very good book that any serious bus fan should own. Mr. Martin's book provides a brief history of New York City's transit bus operations from the postwar era to the 1970's. Each chapter opens with a brief history of one of the bus operations, and the captions are very informative. There is a good cross-section of photos from the early wartime and postwar buses to the GMC and Mack `Old Look' buses of the late 1940's and 1950's to the GMC and Flxible `New Look' buses of the 1960's and 1970's. The selection of photographs is generally good, although several of the older `action' photos of buses in service are not as sharp after being blown up to full-page size. This is understandable given that early bus photography was relatively rare. The `1945-1975' title is also slightly misleading, as New Look photographs from the 1980's are also included - in my opinion, the appearance of these photos is a plus and helps provide a more complete depiction of the New Look era in New York.

A couple of minor criticisms - the New York City Omnibus chapter has few photographs, which is surprising since NYCO operated the busy north-south lines along Sixth Ave., Seventh Ave. and Broadway as well as numerous crosstown routes. The Queens Transit/Steinway Transit chapter quickly skips past the early years to get to the New Look era. And as others have noted, I wish that chapters were included for three other significant operations - Bronx express bus operators New York Bus Service and Liberty Transit/Riverdale Transit and Brooklyn's Pioneer Bus (later replaced by Command Bus).

Those are minor quibbles, however. This is a nice addition to my library of transit books. This clearly was a labor of love for Mr. Martin, and I commend him for a job well done.

The Avenue B & E. Broadway Co. bus on the cover should have been a dead giveaway, but I nevertheless expected thorough coverage of the buses that ran for the Board of Transportation and NYCTA & MTA in this book. Therein lies my disappointment. This book spends at least half its pages on the smaller, private bus companies of NYC while failing to display many of the mainstays of the City-run fleet. The one photo of the 6000-series Macks from 1956 is a contemporary shot of the example in the historic fleet. Where are the 5000-5100-series Flxibles which ran for 19 years in Brooklyn and Staten Island? Or the 5600-5700-series Flxibles which ran in Queens and Brooklyn? Where are the 4000-4200-series or 4600-4700 series Flxibles from 1970? Several of the GM New Look series are not pictured nor discussed in detail. And why the dearth of interior views?
It is a good book for those interested in the private operators, but I was so disappointed that I could not keep the book. I feel strongly that it was a missed opportunity and I hope that it doesn't disuade others from publishing their own take on the period (Are you reading this, James Greller or Andrew Grahl?).
-Steve DeLuca

I grew up in the Borough of Queens, and lived there for 26 years. I rode the buses operated by what was then called Queens Transit Corp. (now operated by the MTA as New York City Bus), and I grew to know and love the buses and bus routes of Queens and New York City. For years, as a transit fan, I lamented that there were simply no books that documented the history of so important a transportation network, until now. The private bus lines of Queens and Brooklyn are being absorbed totally into the MTA,and their colorful histories are in danger of slipping into total obscurity. Happily for me (and other NYC bus fans)Mr. Martin's words and photos really capture a part of NYC transit history that rapidly is changing. If you love or just want to get to know Triboro Coach, Jamaica Buses, Avenue B & East Broadway, Green Bus Lines, or my beloved Queens Transit, you must get this book. If you are interested in the history of the predecessors of today's MTA New York City Transit Authority's Dept. of Buses, you must get this book. If you are a bus fan, the history of such transit bus "founding fathers" as Fifth Avenue Coach and New York City Omnibus are covered in detail.
My one wish is that Mr. Martin follows this fine effort with a Volume 2 about the current NYC transit era.

I have every single bus book written by Bill Luke. We American bus fans owe him a great debt of gratitude for starting the American bus book series w/ Iconografix. Before Bill Luke, there was literally no bus books devoted to American buses. In fact, the few written were often by British authors! Bill started this bus book series and now it appears other bus fans are starting to write books of their own.

As for this book, it is a great pictorial history of Greyhound, from its infancy to its heydays in the 40s and 50s to the present day (2000) era. Greyhound is a skeleton of its former self now, w/ mostly low income, elderly, and students riding their buses. But, if you read the book, you will see that buses in their heyday was every bit as glamarous as train or air travel. Bill carefully presents Greyhound buses from each decade with very useful captions. All the famous buses of their days, including the Yellow Zs, Mack BK, GM 4104 Highway Traveler, Scenicruiser, MCI series of buses, etc, are represented. Any bus fan, especially Greyhound fans, would find this book indispensible. There's some criticism by others that there's not enough caption or that the pages are black and white. But, as mentioned in the title, this is a "photo archive". Its a pictorial history. I'm sure the printing cost of color was the reason its black and white.

I cannot believe this book is worth 4-5 times what it was when I bought it new in 2000. I buy every American bus book as soon as it comes out. I am proud to say I have every Bill Luke book and every bus book produced by Iconografix. My bus library now numbers over 50 books and I only started accumulating them since about 1998.

What a photo album! Loved it.So many buses here I never knew about.About time someone put together a book on Greyhound buses.Photos of vehicles like Pickwick Duplex from 1933 and the NiteCoaches in 1932 amazed me.(I hope these ideas encourage designers of coaches today to update them.)

If you love highway buses then you'll love this book.Beautiful photos throughout will impress.

I recommend buying all the photo archive books about buses if you are a serious bus fan. I consider myself to be and have bought all of them so far. Also the similar one published in Canada about Canadian Greyhound operations.

The title of the book describes the content of this book very well. It is a photo archive of greyhound buses. Each (large) photo has a short description. All photos are of a good quality. They deserve however a better quality of paper. Do not expect a detailed history of the Greyhound in this book. What I missed in this book was a fleetlist.

I'm a big fan of Greyhound having travelled around the State in the sixties and I love their buses, especially the Scenicruiser (drat, only six photos!) so this book is a good addition to my very small Greyhound library. There are over a hundred large photos starting with the first Greyhound in 1914 and every other Greyhound bus up to 2000. The captions are full of interesting detail and they provide the only text.

A thing that troubles me about the book is the very bland presentation, so typical of this kind of fan orientated publishing. Some of the photos could have bled of the page, others could have gone across the gutter, some of the pages could have been black with white captions, anything to give the pages a lift and make the publication sparkle. Still a bland book of Greyhound photos is better than no book at all.

My son, going into third grade, thought it was easy to read (not chapters), but he really liked it a lot. Maybe better for a first grader. Good illustrations, and humor. My son thought the story was a good lesson about not listening to the opinions of others, but rather making up your own mind.

Did you ever think your school bus driver was an animal? In this book, the boy's friends have wild imaginations and compares the driver to a T Rex. This book is great for my almost 3 year old because it combines dinosaurs with his love of vehicles.

My students are reluctant readers, but they love "The Black Lagoon Series"! I am grateful for the amusing yet simply written stories that the kids read again and again.

The book is cool. The bus driver is crazy. Its a fun book and a great series.

I really liked the part about "no inhaling and exhaling on the bus." I think that it's the most make believe book that you have ever written.