Go, Bikes, Go!
Illustrated by Alexander Mostov
Published by Little Bigfoot, April, 2019 ISBN: 978-1632172204 22 pages, board book List price: $9.99 BUY NOW
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This fun and colorful board book introduces children to the joy of bike riding and bikes in many forms. There are big bikes, small bikes and extra tall bikes, and old bikes, new bikes and built-for-two bikes, and more!
Great for....
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"The colorful and active graphics clearly convey the excitement, freedom, and joy bike riding brings to this multicultural cast. . . Grab a helmet and a caregiver or friend, then—go!"--Kirkus Reviews
"After reading it three times consecutively with pleas for an encore, Go Bikes, Go! definitely wins the popular book award in our house at the moment. Unlike the shelves and shelves of board books focused on numbers, the alphabet, animals, or touch-and-feel in book stores, Go, Bikes, Go! is fresh in content, and subject matter, as it brings back memories of Go Dogs Go and Wacky Wednesday with its energetic tone, rhythmic text, buzzing illustrations, and unexpected twists."--Where the Board Books Are
Story behind the story
When I moved across the country -- from Washington, DC to Portland, OR -- my one and only aim was to "be an artist." On that fated journey West, I made an ill-fated decision to buy a new car -- a silver Honda Civic whose interior I can still almost smell. A year later, I was on my way as an artist but couldn't pay my debts and my cute little car got... repossessed. (A relief, by that point.) A friend gave me a bike.
I grew up on a farm, on a gravel road that was was miles from any pavement. I'm sure I had a bicycle at some point in my childhood, but I certainly never mastered it. So I remember my first ride at age twenty-five, guided by my friend Beth through Portland's streets. I remember her saying, "Don't weave in and out of cars, stay straight and in the view of drivers." I remember wavering on the corners, sweating profusely, and generally hating it.
I don't remember how long it took to really enjoy biking. But I spent the next three years commuting by bicycle and those rides are some of my great moments in Portland. Once I found a free drawing table that I balanced all the way home. Once I felt like I was riding straight into the moon. Many times I felt connected to my fellow riders, strong in my own skin, and just happy to be alive. I saw cyclists of so many shapes and sizes, carrying such interesting things, on bikes they had often custom-made and decorated. That is the larger inspiration for Go, Bikes, Go.
Then, a few years ago, I asked my students to analyze the books they remembered from their childhoods. Go, Dogs, Go! was my example. I hadn't read the book for more than twenty years, but I could still remember the cadence and the illustrations clearly-- especially the big dog party at the end. So I took the rhythm that P.D. Eastman and Dr. Seuss and the Berenstains had used to well and applied it to my bicycles.
These days, I share a car with my husband and turn out to be naturally lazy. I bike less than I should and gripe about how busy Portland has gotten. But sometimes still, I feel the magic.
I grew up on a farm, on a gravel road that was was miles from any pavement. I'm sure I had a bicycle at some point in my childhood, but I certainly never mastered it. So I remember my first ride at age twenty-five, guided by my friend Beth through Portland's streets. I remember her saying, "Don't weave in and out of cars, stay straight and in the view of drivers." I remember wavering on the corners, sweating profusely, and generally hating it.
I don't remember how long it took to really enjoy biking. But I spent the next three years commuting by bicycle and those rides are some of my great moments in Portland. Once I found a free drawing table that I balanced all the way home. Once I felt like I was riding straight into the moon. Many times I felt connected to my fellow riders, strong in my own skin, and just happy to be alive. I saw cyclists of so many shapes and sizes, carrying such interesting things, on bikes they had often custom-made and decorated. That is the larger inspiration for Go, Bikes, Go.
Then, a few years ago, I asked my students to analyze the books they remembered from their childhoods. Go, Dogs, Go! was my example. I hadn't read the book for more than twenty years, but I could still remember the cadence and the illustrations clearly-- especially the big dog party at the end. So I took the rhythm that P.D. Eastman and Dr. Seuss and the Berenstains had used to well and applied it to my bicycles.
These days, I share a car with my husband and turn out to be naturally lazy. I bike less than I should and gripe about how busy Portland has gotten. But sometimes still, I feel the magic.