Bug on the Bus -- David Catrow, Hardcover

This funny story by an award-winning artist is the perfect story for practicing simple phonics.

Bug ran to the bus.
Hop on.
Bat ran to the bus.

Bug, Bat, Hen, Cat, Pig, Pup, and Fox all hop on the bus. Everything is fine until skunk hops on too!

This decodable story is laugh-out-loud funny.

David Catrow, the award-winning creator of two New York Times Best Illustrated Books and multiple bestselling picture books, applies his prodigious talent to a story that will delight children as they embark on their reading adventure.

The story has eighty-three words with short vowels, twelve consonants, two sight words and two blends.

The books in the award-winning I Like to Read(R) series build vocabulary and promote fluency, which are essential for reading success. Acclaimed author-illustrators--including winners of Caldecott, Theodor Seuss Geisel, Pura Belpré, and Coretta Scott King awards and honors--create original, high-quality books that illustrations that support comprehension of simple text and are fun for kids to read again and again with their parents, teachers or on their own!

Author: David Catrow
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 01/13/2026
Pages: 32
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
ISBN: 9780823461080
Audience: Ages 4-8

Review Citation(s):
School Library Journal 10/01/2025 pg. 78

About the Author
David Catrow has illustrated many bestselling books including When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner, I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont, and Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs by Alan Katz. He received a New York Times Best Illustrated Award for She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head by Kathryn Lasky and a Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award for The Fly Flew In, an I Like to Read Book both written and illustrated by David Catrow and published by Holiday House. Other books for Holiday House are I Want an Apple (written by David L. Harrison), Fun In the Sun, and My Dog Is Best. Mr. Catrow also worked on the visual development for the animated feature Horton Hears a Who! He lives in Ohio. Learn more at catrow.com.