Review by Booklist Review
Learning to ride a bike--a challenge full of wobbles and falls--is as much about determination as it is about physical skill. This picture book, in which a girl trades in her training wheels for a daunting two-wheeler, is a subtle but effective demonstration of how exposure therapy can conquer fear. Kayla is happy with the training wheels on her little "pink pony" bike, but her father says she's ready for more. As the text describes learning to ride a bike in terms of taming a horse, Kayla's feelings change, from her excitement on her old pink pony through her intimidation in the bike shop and her fear when the new bike, Wild Blue, bucks her. Finally, she's delighted when she and Wild Blue move as one. The acrylic-ink illustrations and sunset hues brilliantly enhance the Old West metaphor, as the landscape shifts incrementally from urban to rural. The ending, in which Kayla walks with, pats, sings songs to, and murmurs encouragement to Wild Blue, is a great example of step-by-step learning.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Through the extended metaphor of taming a wild stallion, an imaginative child describes learning to ride a new bike in this warmly encouraging story. When Daddy puts Kayla's little pink bike "out to pasture," the child, portrayed with tan skin and lasso in hand, is taken to "wrangle a new one from the herd" at the local bike shop, selecting a snazzy blue two-wheeler that's called Wild Blue. "This bike's not tame enough to ride!" declares Kayla after being "bucked" from the bicycle. Working with acrylic ink, Hughes leans into the book's premise, incorporating western references into what seem like otherwise metropolitan scenes: in one spread, a group of cyclists transforms into a pack of horseback-riding kids in western hats; in another, the bike's shadow is that of a horse. Time spent practicing at a park eventually yields results, and the oneness the child achieves with Wild Blue as they ride off into the sunset--"Her legs are my legs./ Her mane, my mane./ Her breath, my breath"--aptly captures the thrilling triumph of learning to ride. Ages 3--7. (Feb.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
"My pink pony and I ride the wide open spaces from sunrise to sunset," young narrator Kayla declares. Her "pink pony" is a small bike with training wheels, and the "wide open spaces" are her neighborhood's sidewalks. But she's outgrown the bike, so Wild Blue comes into her life -- a much bigger and more spirited bicycle. Kayla saddles Wild Blue up, but..."Daddy! This bike's not tame enough to ride!" Despite her efforts, the new bike bucks her off time and time again. With her father (on "his red stallion"), Kayla heads to the park to practice, gradually learning to ride with confidence and joy. "Her legs are my legs. Her mane, my mane. Her breath, my breath." Slater does an excellent job inhabiting that space between imagination and real life that allows two things to be true: Wild Blue can be simultaneously a horse and a bicycle. Hughes's soft acrylic-ink illustrations capture that space as well: we sometimes see Kayla in a cowboy hat in the company of a large horse, and at other times in a bicycle helmet with her bike. Readers will appreciate Kayla's commitment to her imaginative life, along with Slater's twist on the familiar learning-to-ride-a-bike story: in the end Kayla denies that she's tamed her new bicycle, instead insisting, "She's still wild...but so am I." Martha V. ParravanoJanuary/February 2023 p.67 (c) Copyright 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 new bike gets broken in. Kayla loves "pink pony," an "itty-bitty bike" with training wheels. But when Dad decides it's time for an upgrade, the two venture to the bike store and "wrangle a new one from the herd." This bike is bigger and intimidating, with a kickstand instead of training wheels, and Kayla names her Wild Blue. Kayla, a small, tan-skinned child with dark hair poking out underneath a red helmet or imaginary red cowboy hat, tames Wild Bluein a slow, jerky process that will be familiar to kids learning how to ride a "big-kid bike" for the first time. The metaphor of comparing bikes to wild or tame horses continues to the end, with other cowboy or horse culture motifs appearing throughout. There's some dialogue between Kayla and Dad, but most of the story focuses on the growing relationship between rider and bike, with a triumphant, wobble-free ride at the climax. Appealing acrylic illustrations show both wide-open spaces and crowded shops and duly capture the rough energy of the experience. A quiet story, this may help young readers who are similarly transitioning their two-wheeled steeds or prepare them for the experience of doing so. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A new tale with a classic feel that will buoy many young riders. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
