A Bus Called Heaven

Bob Graham (author/illustrator)

Walker Books, UK: Australian release October 2011

ISBN: 978140634197

Genre: picture book

Issues: community

'Abandoned. The bus appeared one morning from a sea of traffic outside Stella's house, where no bus should be. Tired, old and sick, it had a hand-painted sign on it, held down with packing tape. The sign said, 'Heaven''. It is Stella's idea to adopt the bus and the rest of her neighbours gradually come on board, so to speak, with the idea.

Together they turn the bus into a place of safety, of togetherness, of community. When Heaven is threatened with destruction, will they be able to find a way to rescue their bus? A way to maintain the communal place they have created?

Bob Graham is an award-winning author/illustrator because of his capacity to capture ephemeral but universal concepts in simple narratives. His cartoon-style illustrations do the same thing. With an astonishing economy of line and colour, Graham projects an enormous range of characters, drawing the reader into the story until they become one of the community. There is not a excess word or unnecessary pencil line in this book, where the adoption of an abandoned bus becomes symbolic of the bringing together of individuals to form a cohesive group. Celebrating their many different cultural backgrounds but finding unity of purpose and the need of a shared space, A Bus Called Heaven recognises the offer of hope and new life that many seek when they leave their native country.

Funny, thought-provoking, whimsical and uplifting, A Bus Called Heaven belongs in every school, reminding children and adults alike that the things that divide us are less significant than the things that bind us together.

Highly recommended.

Endorsed by Amnesty International UK as contributing to a better understanding of human rights and the values that underpin them.

Same author: Miracle on Separation Street; How To Heal A Broken Wing