Dave Petzol, We Live in a Bus, Thames & Hudson, August 2024, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760764647
Short listed for the CBCA 2025 Book of the Year Picture Book category.
Petzold’s family trip in Western Queensland was the starting point for this story, and so the landscape, flora and fauna reflects these beginnings. Young readers can find animals which may be unfamiliar to them. For many readers, the concept of travelling every day, finding new friends and strange places, only seeing family, camping under the stars or playing a musical fence is totally alien and is sure to start many conversations about all the pros and cons of such a life.
We live in a bus. She’s called Gracie Joy Rufus Bean (we couldn’t agree on a name).
Gracie Joy Rufus Bean has six wheels and a door that opens when you push a button, tic-shhh! There’s also Blob the spider who lives over the top bunk.
The story is narrated by one of the girls, who gives the reader a tour of the bus, and explains how everything has to be packed away before moving off. She really enjoys the days when she is allowed up the front while mum is driving, but she also reflects on the small things as well as the big things which happen on their journey. The book reflects her, and the family’s, curiosity with life and the wider world.
Petzold’s illustrations are a mix of traditional and digital techniques, starting with pencil, ink or oil to create the basis and moving to the computer to add colour and texture. They exude colour and humour, reflecting the enjoyment the family obviously has on their travels. I enjoyed the double-page spreads, expressing the expansiveness of the outback, and loved that the back cover has been used as well.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Maureen Mann
