Hello, I’m Marvin Rees. I’m the Mayor of Bristol.
Today, for World Book Day, I’m reading The Whales on the Bus.
Now, before we start, I want you to look at the coral tank behind me.
You’ll see some of the 200 types of fish and marine animals who call Bristol Aquarium their home.
It includes a giant Pacific Octopus, which is the world’s largest species, called DJ, and we also have Sheila, who is a giant Grouper.
I also want to thank Bristol Libraries – home to more than 700,000 books across 27 libraries all across the city – and I have borrowed this book from them today.
I want to thank the author, Katrina Charman; the illustrator, Nick Sharratt; and Bloomsbury Children’s Books and Book Trust for sharing The Whales on the Bus with us for World Book Day 2022.
So let’s start.
The Whales on the Bus.
The whales on the bus ride round the town, round the town, round the town.
The whales on the bus ride round the town, all day long.
The cranes on the train cry choo, choo, choo! Choo, choo, choo! Choo, choo, choo!
The cranes on the train cry choo, choo, choo, all day long.
The bees on their skis go zoom, zoom, zoom! Zoom, zoom, zoom! Zoom, zoom, zoom!
The bees on their skis go zoom, zoom, zoom, all day long.
The sheep in the jeep race through the mud, through the mud, through the mud.
The sheep in the jeep race through the mud, all day long.
The seals on the sub dive up and down, up and down, up and down.
The seals on the sub dive up and down, all day long.
The tiger in the glider does loop-the-loops, loop-the-loops, loop-the-loops.
The tiger in the glider does loop-the-loops, all day long.
That would make me dizzy, if I did that!
The ducks on the trucks go quack, quack, beep! Quack, quack, beep! Quack, quack, beep!
The ducks on the trucks go quack, quack, beep, all day long.
They’ll have sore throat at the end of that day!
The dragon in the wagon shouts roar, roar, ROAR! Roar, roar, ROAR! Roar, roar, ROAR!
The dragon in the wagon shouts roar, roar, ROAR, all day long.
The goat on the boat sings yo ho ho! Yo ho ho! Yo ho ho!
The goat on the boat sings yo ho ho, all day long.
The snakes on the skates go slip and slide, slip and slide, slip and slide.
The snakes on skates go slip and slide, all day long.
I’ve never seen a snake on ice skates, but look at that picture – there’s evidence.
The baboons in balloons float home for tea, home for tea, home for tea.
The baboons in balloons float home for tea… Time for bed!
The llamas in pyjamas say nighty night, nighty night, nighty night.
The llamas in pyjamas say nighty night, snore! Snore! Snore!
Well I really enjoyed reading that book, I hope you enjoyed listening to it.
If you get a chance, go to your library to get a copy yourself to read, and you might want to take some time to come down to the Aquarium and see some of these amazing fish and some of this marine life behind me.
