The Dark Blue 100 Ride Bus Ticket, by Margeret Mahy
My older daughter absolutely loves this book, and it was one of the first chapter books with actual tension and potential bad things happening that she not only tolerated, but really liked. Perhaps she was OK with the tension because the premise was so obviously fantastical? A boy and his mother are given a blue 100 ride bus ticket… that takes them to a magical supermarket. Hijinks ensue, of course. Whatever the reason for my daughter’s interest in the book, I think it helped her learn to accept more tension in the stories she reads, which is ultimately helpful, because real life is full of tension and potential bad things happening, and books are a great way to explore how to handle that.
Regardless of all that, this book is a lot of fun to read. Mahy was a master storyteller, and there are a lot of delightful details in this book. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be widely available in the US… but thanks to the wonder of the internet, you can still get your hands on a copy. Or you can listen to a radio adaptation of it!
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