NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The illustrator of bestselling children's books by former President Barack Obama, Madonna and poet Amanda Gorman has a six-figure deal with a Macmillan imprint for two of his own projects. Loren Long's first book under his new contract is 鈥淭he Yellow Bus," scheduled for June 2024.
鈥淣oticing a rusted and abandoned school bus sitting in a field with goats climbing in and out of it got me thinking about purpose and the passage of time. I thought 鈥楽urely that yellow bus started it鈥檚 life in a grand fashion, bright and shiny, carrying children from one important place to another,鈥欌 Long said in a statement issued Monday through Roaring Brook Press.
鈥淭he Yellow Bus resulted from me contemplating and imagining what the life of that old bus might have been. And the feeling that comes from doing things for other people,鈥 he said.
Besides working on Obama's 鈥淥f Thee I Sing,鈥 Madonna's 鈥淢r. Peabody's Apples鈥 and Gorman's 鈥淐hange Sings,鈥 Long has written and illustrated the popular series about Otis the tractor, including 鈥淥tis and the Kittens,鈥 鈥淥tis and the Scarecrow鈥 and 鈥淥tis and the Tornado.鈥 Apple TV is planning an animated series based on the Otis books.
