Jay-Jay isn’t an ordinary bus that takes people to school or work, oh no, Jay-Jay is a fun bus bringing joy to lots of children. He travels around the villages and children can climb aboard and have lots of enjoyment.

In this book, Jay-Jay is travelling to an island so that the children there can have fun on his bus. However it is his first time crossing the water and isn’t very impressed with the ferry and the bumpy water, he even starts to feel a little seasick.

Although there are numerous books in the Jay-Jay bus series, this is the first I have read. The story is lovely. I remember the play-buses years ago that people would hire for their birthday parties, though I have never been on one. I also haven’t seen them around for a long time.

The story of a double-decker bus bringing joy to the children is quite delightful and I love the old-fashioned illustrations that show the kids having lots of fun. The only thing I am not sure about is how much text there is in the book. I would expect with the storyline for these to be for young children but there is so much text only confident readers would be able to read this book.

However, with the help of a parent or guardian, I am sure that none and new readers will be able to have the story read to them and enjoy this sweet book featuring a very likeable and friendly bus.

About the Author

I am a teacher and an author and have currently written six children’s picture books with a bus theme. For over 20 years, alongside my teaching career, I worked with a Children’s Charity, The Bewbush Playbus Association, which led me to write a photographic history book about it.

I soon found that many children had never been on a bus before, let alone a ‘Playbus’ and they wanted to know more. I decided to write a fictional tale about the bus, his number plate JJK261 gave him his name. ‘Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus,’ came out in print in 2014. It is the story behind the original bus and is his journey from a scrap-yard to being changed into a playbus for children to play in. From Fact to fiction the bus journey continued.

This story has now been followed by five more picture books. I also undertake events and author bookings and love to share the story. There are also a few more stories in the writing process, with links to real events and buses. The story has been read in many schools in the south-East of England, where I teach as a cover teacher, it is always well received and certainly different.

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