A Crowded Ride in the Countryside

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

These latest three additions to the New Readers series, which is aimed
at youngsters who are just starting to put words to pictures, use
familiar themes so that new readers will feel at home with the subject.
In addition, each story has numerous twists to keep the audience
interested.

In A Crowded Ride in the Countryside, “never pick up hitchhikers”
should be the motto for the soft-hearted farmer who just can’t say no
to his barnyard buddies. As more and more animals pile into the
farmer’s tiny truck, it is not too hard to see where this ride is
going.

Nightgown Countdown, which features ten animals determined to stay up
until dawn (but one by one, they drop out and fall asleep), is a comical
new spin on the ten countdown.

In Snug as a Big Red Bug, winter is coming and Big Red Bug is facing a
housing crisis. Every time he tries to move into a nice warm spot, he is
evicted. He tries snuggling down in a sheep’s wool, a duck’s
feathers, a dog’s fur, and even an old man’s bald head, but each
time, he is turfed out.

John Bianchi excels at drawing humorous, nonthreatening characters, and
the ones he’s created in these books will charm readers of all ages.
All three books are highly recommended.