I Like My Bike

(Hardback)

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Description

For readers just starting out! A bike can be faster than a car, a van, a bus and a truck! Funny characters, humorous pictures, and an eco-friendly message with a text just right for the newest kindergarten reader. "I like my bike. I like my car. I like my big car. I like my truck." The text in this book is simple and repetitive, but the pictures wacky and imaginative. A sea lion chauffeurs a large shark, while a cactus drives a canvas-covered pickup truck, and a tiny mouse drives tractor-trailer filled with cheese. All the vehicles, except for the bicycle, get stuck in traffic, as the girl merrily rides along to her destination--a birthday party. The pictures, in addition to supporting the text and providing surface level comprehension, are chock full of details that allow for (but don't insist upon) deeper comprehension. There are subtexts, connections, and opportunities for inference.

Reviews

"Concise, pedal-powered prose for the earliest of independent readers."Kirkus Reviews

"A mixed-media landscape reflects movement from road to road. Pencil, watercolors, and ink enhance digital scenes that flow from one driver to the next, while cartoon representatives of both flora and fauna drive their favorite vehicles. A simple repetitive refrain, 'I like my,' reinforces the text, while images allow readers to search for details, like finding the bike rider and other recognizable characters who meet at a parkside birthday party. . . . A suggested general purchase for guided reading, the visual variety of images urges readers to infer changes in text." School Library Journal

" The bare-bones text consists of each driver appreciating their specific vehicle ('I like my truck' says a cactus driving a flowery transport), while loosely rendered mixed-media art fills in the story line. . . . Ferrari wryly drives home his tales message in a visually telling finale revealing the vexed car, truck, and bus drivers snarled in traffic while the girl, in satisfyingly timely fashion, pedals to her festive destination foreshadowed by visual clues readers glean along the way."Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

AG Ferrari, who began his career working on animated films, is a highly regarded illustrator in his native Italy. In 2007 he won Italy's highest honor for a picture book illustrator, il Premio Andersen. Ferrari is known for his sure and elegant line, his compositional inventiveness, and his penchant for interesting and often humorous detail. Spirit, surprise, and mastery mark all of his work. Other books for Holiday House include The Kindhearted Crocodile by Lucia Panzieri and No Honking Allowed! by Stephanie Calmenson.