A daily dog walk on the Little Miami Scenic Trail near Camp Dennison led Cincinnati author and illustrator Loren Long to create one of 2024's most celebrated children's books.
Long was walking his rescue dog Charlie on the trail, as he does nearly every day, when he spotted an old yellow school bus through the trees near The Schoolhouse Restaurant at 8031 Glendale Milford Road. That glimpse became The Yellow Bus, which debuted as an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller and was named Amazon's top children's book pick for ages 3 to 5 in 2024.
"I just saw the bus through the trees from the trail," Long told WCPO 9 in a profile published Monday, Aug. 10. "It became a muse."
The trail that sparked Long's idea is the same 78-mile path that draws nearly 1.8 million uses per year, according to a 2024 Tri-State Trails monitoring report. Loveland is widely considered the trail's most active stop, and the city has leaned into that identity since the first 13-mile stretch from Morrow to Loveland opened in 1984. The trail entered the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Hall of Fame in 2009.
It changed the city's downtown.
Loveland City Manager Dave Kennedy described the trail's role in a February 2026 Rails-to-Trails feature: "We created a town square by the clock tower, put out these beautiful Adirondack chairs and kept expanding it and investing in amenities that support the people who are using the trail."
Long grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, attended the University of Kentucky and the American Academy of Art in Chicago, then landed in Cincinnati after a friend mailed him a newspaper ad for a job at Gibson's Greeting Cards. He freelanced for Forbes, Time and Sports Illustrated before transitioning to picture books at nearly 40 years old. His first authored book, Otis, was later adapted into an animated series on Apple TV+. He has illustrated titles for Barack Obama, Amanda Gorman and Madonna.
His artistic style draws on the American Regionalism movement, and he hides Cincinnati Easter eggs in his illustrations, including a Graeter's Black Raspberry Chip ice cream cone.
Long's next book, The Boy and the Island, is scheduled for release Jan. 26, 2027, through Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. In a June 26 Q&A with School Library Journal, Long said the 42-page picture book "came from a combination of three things; a profound song, a curious sight, and an old illustration." For the project, he used watercolors for the first time in his publishing career and built a 12-inch sculpted figure of the boy character as a visual reference.
Long continues to work from his Cincinnati studio with Charlie by his side.
Upcoming in Loveland
Loveland's 150th Anniversary celebration continues this fall. Residents can contribute items to a new time capsule that will be sealed until the city's bicentennial in 2076, according to a city announcement. The capsule will be placed at the future Nisbet Park Amphitheater. Submissions are accepted at Loveland City Hall, 120 W. Loveland Ave., Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Friday, Oct. 30.
