BUS RIDERS

Grandfatherly, competent Lee has a game with Louise and Warren, the nice, quiet kids who are first on his route: at the second stop, where five obstreperous boys and their five unruly dogs careen on, he offers an after-school candy bar for the child who guesses which dog (Black Toe, Short Ribs, Fly, Wipeout, or Quinn) will be first on. Today, it's Warren who guesses right; but Lee isn't driving that afternoon. He's out for weeks (gall bladder), replaced by three hilariously caricatured substitutes: Thelma S. (mules, frowsy hair, flowered purse); Willie (ponytail, boombox, toenails ``big enough for any kid to see!''); and assistant principal Mr. Dodds (brown pinstripe over sagging baby- blue socks, sits on fat yellow pages, scowl, ruler). After a month, it's grand to see Lee's smiling face again—and he hasn't forgotten Warren's candy, either. Carpenter's ebullient, witty art, its vibrant colors dominated by intense school-bus yellow, is half the fun. A hoot. (Picture book. 4-8)