Cartoon school bus at a curb with a backpack, falling autumn leaves, trees, and houses.

Backpack Waiting for the Fall School Bus

A school bus rolls past fluttering maple and oak leaves while a backpack waits on the sidewalk below the trees.

🎨 How to color it

Color the school bus sunny yellow, the backpack denim blue, the tree leaves pumpkin orange and maple red, and the little houses soft tan. Use chunky crayons or markers for the bus’s big flat sides, then switch to a sharper pencil for the tire dots, backpack zippers, and leaf veins. Try making the falling leaves change color from red near the treetops to gold near the sidewalk.

The story behind this coloring page

The Backpack That Waited — Each morning, Cora set her blue backpack on the square of sidewalk and listened for the school bus’s rumble. Read the full story →

Each morning, Cora set her blue backpack on the square of sidewalk and listened for the school bus’s rumble. She wanted to be first in line, so she waited still as a fence post while leaves tick-tick-ticked around her shoes.

One morning, the bus was late. A copper beetle crawled from under an oak leaf and tapped the backpack zipper with one tiny foot. Because Cora did not rush away, she saw the beetle tug a thread loose. Because she waited longer, the thread lifted like a whisker in the breeze.

At last, the bus sighed around the corner, bright and warm-smelling. The beetle bowed, and the loose thread pointed straight at the doors. “You’re my bus finder,” Cora whispered. Next time you see the backpack by the curb, see if its little thread is still listening for the school bus’s rumble.