Bicycles, Best Friends, And More Great Kids’ Books!

This energetic picture book opens with a dad teaching a young girl to ride her bike. Initially she loves her bike, but when she crashes going down a hill, she decides she hates it. Comfort from dad and a rest gives her a new perspective. The lilting prose and soft illustrations depict the joys and frustrations of learning how to ride a bike.

This picture book also tackles those initial moments of frustration and joy when learning how to ride a bike. It’s a simply written but perfectly executed book depicting a father teaching his daughter to ride a bike in their neighborhood. The dad in this one also provides comfort and encouragement when the child falls. My daughter loves finding all the animals in the illustrations.

This is a fascinating nonfiction picture book about the history of bicycles. Velocipedes struggle in muddy 19th century streets and brakeless inventions make hills a disaster. Bike innovations move from toys for the wealthy to essentials for the working class. Nelson’s simple, poetic lines somehow pack so much information into them, and Bruno’s detailed illustrations are nostalgic and gorgeous. This one releases in July.

Bibsy Cross is another new chapter book series that my daughter and I have fallen in love with. Scanlon writes the series in verse, and it’s very accessible, especially with Ho’s super cute illustrations. In this one, 8-year-old Bibsy’s library is hosting a bike-a-thon fundraiser, and she’s determined to win the fundraiser by getting the most donations. She teams up with her best friend Natia to practice, but as her competitive drive takes over, she starts to forget the reason for the fundraiser. The first two books in the series release June 11th. The other book releasing is Bibsy Cross and the Bad Apple.