Review by New York Times Review
Whether you're trying out a balance bike, trading in a tricycle for training wheels or mounting a two-wheeler for the first time, learning to ride is hard work. This gentle book is the sweet inviting outstretched hand that makes it look easy enough to try. And try again. Addressing the reader directly with "Want to learn to ride a bicycle?" Raschka supplies guidance and comfort for the inevitable wipeouts. Playful spot illustrations depict a doting father giving his daughter a guiding hand as he reminds her to pump and runs after her. There she goes! BEN RIDES ON Written and illustrated by Matt Davies. 32 pp. Neal Porter/Roaring Brook. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 7) Davies, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, gets things going right away in his first children's book. Here's the rousing opener: "Now that he had the bicycle of his dreams, Ben Lukin loved going to school." The ride ahead is a thrill - it's the schoolyard destination that proves problematic. "Adrian Underbite, perhaps the world's largest third grader, didn't seem to like Ben very much." He wants Ben's bike. He takes Ben's bike. And though Ben is tempted to take revenge, he chooses another path. Full of warmth, humor and a welcome lesson about bullies, Davies's debut cries out for a follow-up. HOW TO BICYCLE TO THE MOON TO PLANT SUNFLOWERS A Simple but Brilliant Plan in 24 Easy Steps. Written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein. 40 pp. Roaring Brook. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Gerstein, who won a Caldecott Medal for "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers," has cooked up another winning story about far-flung dreams and their realization. According to the young narrator, the moon looks like a sad clown face that needs cheering up. The obvious way to do this, the boy decides, is to bicycle on up and plant sunflowers on its surface. His father may have qualms, and his mother her fears, but the boy never doubts the feasibility of his plan. Delivered beginner graphic-novel style with a madcap mix of the technically true and the overtly outlandish, this book, with its 24 steps, shows just how he does it. MONSIEUR ALBERT RIDES TO GLORY By Peter Smith. Illustrated by Bob Graham. 32 pp. Allen & Unwin. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 5 to 7) This Australian import tells the perfectly silly story of 60-year-old Albert ("I'm fit for my age and I've got a good bike"), who decides to enter the Tour de France, to the surprise of his compatriots. "'You're mad, Monsieur Albert, you haven't a chance!' / cries a gendarme (that's just a policeman in France)" There's also his arrogant rival, Francois: "He's champion of France and a millionaire; / he trains on frogs' legs and vin ordinaire." And a gesture to winners past: "It's true that the best man did not win the race, and in bicycle races that's sometimes the case." But it's all in good fun, and with magnifique illustrations from Graham. DESMOND AND THE VERY MEAN WORD A Story of Forgiveness. By Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams. Illustrated by A. G. Ford. 32 pp. Candlewick. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 6 to 10) What is it about bikes that brings out the bullies? In this heart-rending story based on an episode from Archbishop Desmond Tutu's childhood in South Africa, young Desmond's excitement about his new bicycle is quelled when a group of white children shout "a very mean word" at the black child. The episode haunts and infuriates him. "No matter how fast he pedaled to school, Desmond couldn't leave the mean word behind." With the help of his mentor, Father Trevor, Desmond learns to let go of anger, cultivate compassion and finally, forgive his tormentor. "At last Desmond knew what it felt like to be free." PAMELA PAUL ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [May 26, 2013]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* From the reassuring title onward, this vibrant picture book describes learning to ride a bicycle a monumental challenge for many children. A father guides his daughter through the process, which begins with choosing the perfect bike, watching others ride, and realizing that all those expert riders once learned this skill as a beginner, too. The girl begins to ride with the training wheels set low, then set high, and then removed. She takes some spills, gets back on, and tries again. When she is frustrated, her father encourages her to try again and again and again and eventually, she can ride a bicycle. So much is heartening about the book, from the father's consistently kind, matter-of-fact tone to the fact that the process begins with simple steps and leads up to more challenging ones. Rendered in Raschka's signature style of fluid, kinetic brushstrokes, the ink-and-watercolor illustrations beautifully capture the action and emotion in each scene. (Safety-minded adults will also be happy to note that the girl is wearing an enormous helmet throughout the book.) Deceptively simple and perfectly paced for read-alouds, this latest from the two-time Caldecott medalist captures a child's everyday experience with gentle, joyful sensitivity.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Two-time Caldecott Medalist Raschka (A Ball for Daisy) crafts an encouraging, artful, and eminently practical approach to a childhood rite of passage: learning to ride a bike. Freewheeling watercolors feature a balding man-perhaps an older father or grandfather-and a cautious girl in a blue, watermelon-size helmet. The calm adult offers reassurance, pointing out all-ages bicycle commuters: "Watch everyone ride. They all learned how." He adjusts the training wheels ("If we raise them up a smidge, you'll begin to feel your balance"), and a pictorial sequence shows the girl's wobbly progress. They then remove the training wheels, resulting in some spills ("Oops! You nearly had it"). The girl grows disappointed, and her helper responds with an understanding hug. By the finale, the girl joins other riders in a park, all shaped by light, translucent pools of color. Raschka's breezy conclusion ("You are riding a bicycle! And now you'll never forget how") brings to mind a familiar saying. Adults will close the book with a lump in their throats, children with a firm sense of purpose. Ages 4-8. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Apr.) ? (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-In his latest foray into childhood territory, Raschka explores the roles of adult and child in achieving one of the most challenging milestones of growing up-mastering a two-wheeler. The large, hand-lettered title framing the successful rider on the cover conveys the positive outcome, so the page turns are all about "how?" The story is narrated by an adult, presumably the father, but not limited to this relationship by text or image. The girl's thoughts are all expressed visually. When the two are picking out a new bicycle and then watching other riders, the busy pages portray colorful examples, some surrounded by washes of watercolor, others set against the white background; all are connected with small strokes that animate the compositions. Clad in an enormous, blue-striped helmet, the child is watchful, then tireless, as she practices with training wheels. The narrator admits that taking them off is "a bit scary," and the remaining scenes depict a brave girl in various stages of falling, trying, and being comforted and encouraged. In some close-ups, the heart on her shirt is askew, likely mimicking her actual pulse. Her legs, painted in thin, blue strokes, exhibit a fragile flexibility that expresses volumes. Raschka's well-chosen words, spread over several pages, admonish: "Find the courage to try it again,/again, and again. until/by luck, grace, and determination,/you are riding/a bicycle!" The artist's marvelous sequences, fluid style, and emotional intelligence capture all of the momentum and exhilaration of this glorious accomplishment.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Though "everyone" may be a bit of an exaggeration, it reflects the optimism in this straightforward account of one small, pigtailed learner's perseverance and triumph, a wobbly passage tracked from selecting a bike (from amongst a bewildering array) to a confident last-page trajectory ("And now you'll never forget how"). A grandfatherly figure's encouragement makes up the second-person text ("Find the courage to try it again, again, and again...until by luck, grace, and determination, you are riding"). With his loose watercolor images at their most fluid, Raschka depicts the adult leaning toward the child in a visual balance that bespeaks, successively, protection, urging, assistance, and commiseration (after a fall). Such Raschka techniques as emotion-conveying color and composition-propelled movement are in top form here, as he not only deconstructs what's needed, literally, to acquire this particular skill (which may be unique for its lessons on the physics of motion and the rewards of self-reliance) but also suggests the complexity of achieving balance and independence in any of life's transitions. joanna rudge long (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A little girl in a ginormous blue-striped helmet chooses a bike, practices lots and, aided by a patient, daddy-esque (perhaps granddaddy-esque) guy in a green tie, learns to ride. The gentle text (in elegant Bodoni Old Face) offers pithy encouragement. "Let's go! / Watch everyone ride. / They all learned how. / Come on, let's give it a try. / Training wheels are helpful. They keep you from tipping over." Raschka's watercolors, in a palette of green, blue, gray, ocher and red, convey humor and movement in economical, expressive vignettes. On one spread, the girl gazes at many riders: twins on a tandem bike, a woman in a red swimsuit, a cat riding in a back-fender basket and a man in Hasidic garb, payos flying. On another, no fewer than 11 spots show the girl wobbling and zooming, sans training wheels; the green-tie guy alternately steadies her course and flies behind in pursuit as she improves. The man's elongated head bows toward the girl in Chagall-like studies of empathy, while her bow-shaped mouth and black braids convey a cute that's never cloying. Some compositions are encased in softly rounded rectangles; others pop against the creamy matte ground. The paper's minute gold flecks lend a lovely, subtle sparkle to the bright, thin washes. A wry, respectful ode to a rite of passage that's both commonplace and marvelous. This is one fun ride! (Picture book. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
