Bikes for Sale

February 1, 2019
What do you get when you smash your bike? A new friend.Maurice sells lemonade from a cart attached to his yellow bike. Lotta has a red bike with a basket that holds sticks she collects and then gives away. Both travel along similar pathways daily yet never meet...until a stick becomes entangled in one of Maurice's spokes, propelling him into a tree. Meanwhile, Lotta's bike skids on some lemon rinds, causing her to crash, too. They're unharmed, but their bikes are ruined and occupations suffer. When Maurice and Lotta read a sign advertising bikes for sale, each visits Sid's repair shop. Hurray! Sid has fashioned a tandem bike, developed from the broken remains. He has also created a new friendship, as Maurice and Lotta become the owners/riders of a yellow-and-red lemonade-and-stick-collecting bicycle built for two. In the end, life has handed out lemons, and they've never tasted sweeter. This is a sweet, quiet, different take on the familiar new-friendship trope. The quirky acrylic illustrations are appealing; characters are expressive. Chipmunk Maurice has enormous black eyes and has vivid red fur. Porcupine Lotta is pale yellow. They and various other animal characters wear typical kids' attire. Visual learners will enjoy traversing the routes taken by the main characters on the simply drawn maps printed on the front and back endpapers. The wheels on the bikes go round...and readers will meet endearing new pals. (Picture book. 3-6)

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February 4, 2019
Maurice sells sunshiny drinks from his mobile lemonade stand: “No matter where he rode, he always had customers.” Lotta uses her bicycle cart to collect sticks, which she hands out for use as stilts and swords and limbo bars: “Everyone loves sticks.” And both of them ride their bikes all over town. OHora (Read the Book, Lemmings!) draws Maurice and Lotta and their animal friends in peaceful limes and olive greens splashed with turquoise and fuchsia. Friendly, woolly, and slightly disheveled-looking, the animals pad around in comfortable sneaks. Alliterative prose by Higgins (Everything You Need for a Treehouse) makes even the mishaps that ruin Maurice’s and Lotta’s carts sound poetic: “But what looked like a small stick was really a smashup... and what looked like some petals was really some peels.” A local bike genius salvages one bicycle from the duo’s two smashed ones, and they’re off for more adventures—this time, together. This quirky anticonsumerist fable imagines a town in which uses can be found for the things most people abandon, small enterprises flourish, and communal kindness makes life rich. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. Illustrator’s agent: Sean McCarthy, Sean McCarthy Literary Agency.

April 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-Higgins's latest offering is a fun story of two bicycle enthusiasts who accidentally meet and develop a friendship. Maurice owns a lemonade stand on wheels, while Lotta rides around collecting sticks to distribute from the basket on her bike. When the two crash and are left to manage on foot, a crafty Sid intervenes and saves the day. The narrative is lyrical and charming, with "squeezy drops of sunshine" lemons and heartfelt adoration for the possibility found in twigs. OHora's acrylic illustrations are quirky, and the characters' expressions are endearing. The page layouts shift from full page to comic book-style panels, which in some cases could lead to a little confusion for newly independent readers and may make the title better as a one-on-one read rather than a larger group share for storytime. However, the tale's message, that sometimes things that were once new can quickly become familiar and comfortable, particularly when making friends, is solid encouragement for young readers. VERDICT A sweet story of friendship, full of musings about potential that can be inspiring to imaginative minds. This is a good read for those in search of some whimsy and warmth.-Kaitlin Malixi, Kensington Health Sciences Academy, Philadelphia

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2019
Preschool-K The author of This Is Not a Valentine (2017) offers here another take on unconventional friendships. Chipmunk Maurice rides his bicycle all over town, selling fresh lemonade. Meanwhile, Porcupine Lotta pedals a slightly different route, collecting sticks to give away. One day paths cross and they crash, ruining both bikes and disrupting routines. Eventually both wander to Sid's Bike Shop, where they discover that the clever raccoon has repaired both bicycles, creating a unique tandem. Higgins' gentle story celebrates the ways in which serendipity can lead to friendship and sharing. OHora's cozy characters, rendered in brightly colored acrylics, manage to look friendly and approachable even when they are bummed, and a secondary cast (including a jogging hippo, a cat who walks dogs, and Sid) make cameos throughout with minor story lines. Chartreuse and teal predominate, accented in magenta and lemon; compositions include a mix of full-page spreads and smaller panels. The endpapers depict a map of the park area, making it easy to follow Maurice's and Lotta's paths.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
Chipmunk Maurice sells lemonade by bicycle. Porcupine Lotta rides around on her bike collecting sticks. Two bike wrecks lead to raccoon Sid's bike shop and a new friendship. The omniscient narration is practically poetry (on Maurice's bike: "The sprockets remembered mud and lemons, twigs and mint"), and OHora's acrylics capture the reliable adorableness of hardworking small forest creatures.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)