It's Not a School Bus, It's a Pirate Ship

A young boy is hesitant to board the school bus on the first day of school, but his fears are alleviated when the bus driver whispers to him as he climbs aboard, “You don’t have to be afraid . . . This isn’t a school bus, it’s a pirate ship!” The commute to school becomes an adventure on the high seas with jokes, songs, and even sightings of taco-eating dolphins. Most importantly, the voyage brings new friends who share in the imaginative fun that continues even upon arriving at school, where the classroom rug is actually a magic carpet. Rapkin’s story brings laughs and smiles with its humorous pirate jokes and catchy sea-faring sing-alongs, but while fun and imaginative, the ride to school is fairly uneventful and the story feels a bit anticlimactic—perhaps as a ride to school should. However, Martinez’s digital illustrations are too bright and colorful for the story to be considered boring. Her portrayal of a young person’s undefined fears of a scary bus ride—she fills the seats with black and gray hued sketches of ghosts, stick figures, snakes, and spiders—are especially insightful in conveying an abstract dread of the unknown. Young readers who love pirate stories will appreciate this tale, as will adults looking for a fun story to help a child overcome fears, especially fear of going to school.