The Red Bicycle: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bicycle

 2016 USBBY Outstanding International Books 

Bibliography

Isabella, J. & Shin, S. (2015). The red bicycle : the extraordinary story of one ordinary bicycle. Toronto, ON Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.

Plot Summary
When Leo outgrows his bike, he learns that he can donate it to an organization that provides bikes to people that cannot afford a bicycle in other countries. Follow “Big Red’s” adventure to Africa and see how one simple donation can affect an entire community. 

 

Critical Analysis
This is a book that helps children think about the world outside of what they know. For many American children, having and learning how to ride a bicycle is a right of passage. It’s something done for entertainment. With The Red Bicycle, children will have the opportunity to see the importance of bicycles for transportation and how what they may see as a toy is an integral part of the community in other parts of the world. 

When the bicycles are shipped from the United States to Ghana, a map is provided for readers showing how the shipping container went from the road to a boat to Ghana, Africa. The residents of Africa all have rosy cheeks which conveys the happiness the people may have at the availability of such transportation. Children have the opportunity to see the dress of those in West Africa and become familiar with new terms such as “sorghum”, “dolo”, “draff”, and “pagne”. 

Select portions of the text are highlighted on each spread which emphasizes the main idea of what is currently happening in the story. It is also interesting to note the gray of the concrete when Big Red is in the United States and how the ground changes in West Africa to dark tans and browns due to the lack of roadways. 

This book also teaches students the importance of donation. Just because something is unusable to you doesn’t mean that another person couldn’t attempt to repurpose it for their own use. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” as the old platitude goes. Not only does Leo donate his bike, but when Alisetta can no longer use Big Red after getting a newer bicycle, the character Boukary offers to fix up the bike and it becomes an ambulance. One small action can have global consequences. 

Most importantly, the back of this book helps put the story in context with different images of how bicycles are used in Burkina Faso, the specific area mentioned in West Africa where the bicycle ended up with Alisetta and Haridata. 

Review Excerpt(s)

Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award Nominee for English Non-fiction (2017) 

Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize Nominee (2016)

2016 USBBY Outstanding International Books

A strong option for social studies curricula, this noteworthy title will encourage kids to think globally. ―School Library Journal

Appealingly illustrated by Shin, this is a particularly good depiction of the ripple effect that can follow one generous act. ―The New York Times

Connections 
Activities - The back of this book provides many activities for students to follow up with

• Big Red ends up in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Where else in the world could people donate their bicycles? Have students research a country and make the case for why donating bikes there would be a good idea. 
• Have students research and list reasons for why bicycles are a good form of transportation in their own community. 
• Organize a bicycle race for students and teachers to participate in. 
• Pair this activity with one on kindness or one that shows the consequences of one’s actions and how it becomes a ripple effect. 
• Google Earth Burkina Faso and imagine a possible bicycle path. Explore what is available to see using Google Earth. 
• Organize, advertise and run a bike drive at your school and then donate them overseas. 
• A math problem could be created regarding the time amount of time (29 days) and the distance the bicycle traveled from North American to Africa.  
• New terms are introduced in West Africa. Have students use context clues to figure out the definitions or what the words mean. Then have students look up the words, possibly using Google Translate or another means.