Good Biking Reads

Recently here at Nature For Kids we talked about Learning To Ride A Bike.

I think like most outdoor activities for kids it couldn’t hurt to correlate some reading material with it.  Here are some good reads when it comes to biking…

Marta and the Bicycle by Germano Zullo

The editorial review reads…”With perfect poker-face kookiness, a Swiss team chronicles how an indefatigable, bicycle-loving bovine named Marta becomes a racing champion. Certain that her owner, Monsieur Gruyere, is too cheesy to buy her a two-wheeler, Marta builds one with parts scavenged from the town dump. Then she patiently teaches herself to ride. “She fell down. A lot. She scraped her hooves. She scraped her horns. She even scraped her tail.” (This funny multi-drawing spread also contributes new words to the blooper vocabulary, such as “paf” and “spotch.”) Albertine’s watercolor-and-ink drawings combine an elegant fine black line with a nonchalantly loopy sensibility. Marta’s tiny eyes radiate a cross-eyed determination, and none of the other bikers looks askance at her (perhaps because so many of them have the same chunky physique). Throughout the illustrations, signage appears in its original French-from “Poissonnier” on a fish delivery truck to “Arrivee” at the bike race finish-adding a nifty cosmopolitan touch. Although the trend-setting Marta is ready to move on at story’s end (”If everyone is going to ride bicycles, I’ll have to find something else,” she says, as her fellow herd members balance on two wheels), youngsters will rally for a repeat rendezvous with this slyly funny heroine who refuses to be cowed. Ages 4-8.”

Biking: An Outdoor Adventure Handbook by Hugh McManners

The editorial review reads…”The author, who has written several outdoor adventure/sports books for adults, tries his hand at one for kids who have a yen for riding the back roads. Following discussion of bike features (he focuses on multigear bikes), clothing, and equipment, McManners takes a look at basic skills, which many kids already know, adding some new perspective by suggesting a variety of games and activities for perfecting techniques for off-road rides. He even includes brief instructions for homemade obstacle courses. Tips for mapping and following a course, bike maintenance, and fixing a puncture are presented as well, with loads of colorful photographs splashed across the pages, but the photos, though quite clear in most cases, are too small to be much help, especially when it comes to bike maintenance and repair. However, the handbook is perfect for fitting into backpack or bike pouch.”

Do you have any good biking reads to recommend? Leave a comment here at Nature For Kids!

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