This is a fun picture book with some lovely illustrations. Every day Maggie drives the red playbus to pick up the children for some fun activities. The children love it when they get on the playbus, there they can do some art, dressing up, play games and more. But every day when the bus goes past the bus stop adults want to board it and get upset when Maggie doesn’t stop. Is there a way to stop the adults being upset, and what will the children get up to on the playbus? This paperback is filled with matt pages of some lovely and colourful illustrations and text. I love how fun this book and the bus is. Every day the playbus drives past bus stops on its way to pick up the children who soon get involved with different activities. Soon there’s a suggestion the kids put on a show to share what they’ve been doing during the fun time with the playbus. Some of the children decide to dress up in costumes, while others want to do acrobatics, others act as clowns and more. There’s a whole host of activities and performances the children get involved in and practice, to share with the their families and friends. I love the idea of this fun playbus where the children enjoy getting involved in different ways to have fun. I like how many different activities the kids end up doing and how many different ways they plan to entertain those watching their show. The illustrations really add to how fun this book is, every picture is so fun and engaging and I love how colourful and happy everyone looks, especially when the show they put on happens and you can see the children gathered together at the end too. The story has a lovely ending, and I like what happens to the bus especially. There is a page at the end of the book giving you more information about the real playbus. The fact that this book is inspired by a real playbus (which I didn’t know before reading it) just makes this book feel even more lovely to read. A fun tale with a lovely ending, and featuring a bus which I’m sure many children wish they could get on board!

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers’ Favorite I remember those simple summer days of imaginative fun. Like planning and preparing for one’s own little circus, usually with the neighborhood children in someone’s backyard. There’s lots of anticipation and creative fun as costumes are assembled and props made. And then the big day arrives. That’s what happens to the Playbus in Sue Wickstead’s Maggie’s Red Circus Bus. Everyone is happily getting ready for their own little circus, all the preparations being done on the Playbus. There’s a buzz in the air and lots of positive energy as Maggie drives the Playbus which becomes the Circus Bus. The bus drives the children, now the circus performers, through the town. Everyone, including the town’s mayor, is impressed with the children and their circus antics. Sue Wickstead’s picture book, Maggie’s Red Circus Bus, is another grand adventure in the Playbus series. The author has a gift for making every one of Maggie’s Playbus stories full of imagination, creativity, and lots of fun, laughter, and adventure. The language is simple, so young readers can easily follow along and improve their reading skills. The illustrations, as always, are superb: bright, bold, colorful, and full of life. There’s so much to discover in each picture, adding to the grand adventure. The plot is also simple, following the children’s plan for a circus to the great event itself. There’s talent and laughter amongst the children, but the message is how everyone gets along and works well together. This is a great read for children, one that will inspire creative adventures.