Together We Ride

May 1, 2022

PreS-K-A young Black girl learns to ride a two-wheeled bicycle with her father guiding and cheering her on. She rides, falls, and bravely tries again. When she's steady, the whole family goes out for a ride: the girl and her mother on their own bikes, while Dad tows the little brother along behind and holds the dog's leash (everyone wears a helmet). Accompanying the spare, rhyming text that echoes the cadence of Stick & Stone by Beth Ferry, the illustrations bring the story to life in detail, setting it in the Bay Area of California with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny day. The moment of drama ("slip, slide, tossed aside") is depicted with compelling sequential illustrations of the girl wobbling and crashing with wavy lines around her bike tires, but on the following spread, her father hugs her and waits for her to calm down and decide what to do. Even without dialogue, it's clear he is as pumped as she is ("what pride!") about her perseverance in acquiring a new skill; even the dog jumps for joy. VERDICT A positive portrayal of a father/daughter relationship on the day of a milestone; a good addition for all picture book collections.-Jenny Arch

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Starred review from May 1, 2022
A little girl learns to ride a bike in her suburban Bay Area neighborhood, her father by her side until off she goes on her own. Soon enough comes the inevitable wobbliness and first fall (with, luckily, a soft landing in some leafy shrubbery), but Dad is there to help: "Hug-cried / Tears dried / Decide..." Will she get back on? Dad wisely lets her think about it, then "Push, goodbyed / Pump, FLY! / What pride!" Bolling's brief and inventive rhyming text perfectly conveys the action and emotions involved in an inaugural bike ride. Illustrations extend the appealing story by including a supportive dog who pulls twigs off the bike after the crash, wags its tail encouragingly as the girl considers getting back on, and gives her a big wet kiss at the end. However, the crowning elaboration on the text is the art's celebration of Black hair: Dad, wearing a T-shirt with the Pan-African flag colors, sports high-top dreads, a fade, and a chin-strap goatee, while the girl's double Afro puffs proudly poof out below her bike helmet. (Safety first, but this girl is not letting that helmet cramp her style.) When the two return home, Mom and younger brother join them for a family bike ride, little man (with dreads that match Dad's) riding in a sidecar and the dog running happily alongside. Together, indeed. Jennifer M. Brabander

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from May 15, 2022
Preschool-Kindergarten *Starred Review* Learning to ride a bike is a common but monumental childhood experience, and in this adorable story, a father teaches his daughter. First, he pumps her bike's tires while she buckles a stickered helmet beneath her chin. They then walk out to their empty cul-de-sac where Dad steadies her atop her bike, helping her glide slowly forward until she is riding on her own. But then--"Slip, slide, tossed aside"--the girl wobbles and crashes into a bush, her dad quick to sweep her into a comforting hug. Tears dried, the girl climbs back on her bike and, after a push from Dad, flies along the sidewalk with her father proudly cheering her on. Written in spare, rhyming text containing plenty of sight words, the story is told largely through the book's beautiful mixed-media illustrations. Juanita, a Coretta Scott King Award Honoree, creates watercolor-like scenes accented in candy-colored hues and filled with thoughtful details, from the garage, where a plush rhino sits at a tea party, to the San Francisco Bay Bridge in the distance to the celebratory final scene where the entire family takes a bike ride together. Featuring a young Black family, this book is a wonderful choice for every collection and an asset in the area of #RepresentationMatters.

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January 1, 2022
A little girl learns to ride a bike in her suburban Bay Area neighborhood, her father by her side until off she goes on her own. Soon enough comes the inevitable wobbliness and first fall (with, luckily, a soft landing in some leafy shrubbery), but Dad is there to help: "Hug-cried / Tears dried / Decide..." Will she get back on? Dad wisely lets her think about it, then "Push, goodbyed / Pump, FLY! / What pride!" Bolling's brief and inventive rhyming text perfectly conveys the action and emotions involved in an inaugural bike ride. Illustrations extend the appealing story by including a supportive dog who pulls twigs off the bike after the crash, wags its tail encouragingly as the girl considers getting back on, and gives her a big wet kiss at the end. However, the crowning elaboration on the text is the art's celebration of Black hair: Dad, wearing a T-shirt with the Pan-African flag colors, sports high-top dreads, a fade, and a chin-strap goatee, while the girl's double Afro puffs proudly poof out below her bike helmet. (Safety first, but this girl is not letting that helmet cramp her style.) When the two return home, Mom and younger brother join them for a family bike ride, little man (with dreads that match Dad's) riding in a sidecar and the dog running happily alongside. Together, indeed.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)