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Pedal Power: How One Community Became the Bicycle Capital of the World

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Pedal Power: How One Community Became the Bicycle Capital of the World

eBook(NOOK Kids)

$11.99

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eBook(NOOK Kids)
$11.99

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Overview

Pedal Power is a nonfiction picture book about the women and children who led the social movement that made Amsterdam the most bike-friendly city in the world!

Cycling rules the road in Amsterdam today, but that wasn't always the case. In the 1970's, Amsterdam was so crowded with vehicles that bicyclists could hardly move, but moms and kids relied on their bicycles to get around the city.

PEDAL POWER is the story of the people who led protests against the unsafe streets and took over a vehicles-only tunnel on their bikes, showing what a little pedal power could do! Author and illustrator Allan Drummond returns with the story of the people that paved the way for safe biking around the world.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466896901
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	03/28/2017
Series:	Green Power
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	49 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Allan Drummond is the author and illustrator of many books, including Tin Lizzie and the other Green Power books, Energy Island, Green City, Pedal Power, and Solar Story. He studied at the Royal College of Art in London and currently lives in Suffolk, England.

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Editorial Reviews

From recycling to cycling, Allan Drummond's Pedal Power is a timely political story told with a soft touch…Drummond's line work and coloring is loose and breezy and serves as a fitting counterpoint to the informative text…This book is a celebration of both cycling and political activism…

The New York Times Book Review - James Sturm

Drummond, whose earlier environment-related picture books include Energy Island (2011) and Green City (2016), tells a true story that offers a bit of dramatic tension as well as broad relevance and child appeal. . .Illustrated with breezy, expressive drawings and colorful washes, the informative text flows well, narrating the story, explaining what made the roads bike-friendly, and briefly explaining how cycling benefits cities. A heartening picture book about bicycles, activism, and social change.” —Booklist

“The author surrounds this simply told story with endpapers showing bicycle efficiency, bicycle contributions to social progress, great cyclists, and great bikes of the world. He includes statistics about bike-share programs and reasons for using bicycles to get around. As he did in other tales of community transformation, he decorates his text with cheerful pen-and-ink sketches with watercolor wash. "—Kirkus Reviews

“The text is well written, engaging, and concise . . . The bright cartoon-style ink and color washes, with flowing lines, create the impression of movement, which is well suited to the subject matter . . . An intriguing nonfiction picture book to augment the community action section and for casual reading.” —School Library Journal

“Dashed line and loosely brushed watercolor wash pictures have a light-hearted energy appropriate to a movement all about, well, movement.” —The Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books

From the Publisher

02/01/2017
K-Gr 3—Veteran nonfiction children's author Drummond presents yet another engaging tale about community action leading to change. This title relates how Amsterdam became a world-renowned city of bicycles. Bicycles had always been abundant in the city because they were affordable. But in the 1970s, the economy grew and so did the number of motor vehicles on the roads, while bicycles rapidly became outnumbered. Some people started protesting, including Maartje Rutten. Then, in 1971, Dutch journalist Vic Langenhoff wrote an impassioned article about the more than 500 children who had died that year in traffic and bicycle accidents, including his own daughter. That article roused the entire country to the dangers of mixing bikes and motor vehicles without laws, and the need for regulations to protect cyclists. The persistence of Rutten, other avid cyclists, and community activists, as well as an oil and gas shortage, eventually encouraged political leaders to support city and community bicycle laws. The text is well written, engaging, and concise. Words are scattered throughout the illustrations, enhancing the visual experience. The bright cartoon-style ink and color washes, with flowing lines, create the impression of movement, which is well suited to the subject matter. Appended are an author's note, a bibliography of additional resources, a short pictorial list of famous cyclists, and a brief pictorial glossary of types of bicycles. VERDICT An intriguing nonfiction picture book to augment the community action section and for casual reading.—Gretchen Crowley, formerly at Alexandria City Public Libraries, VA

School Library Journal

2016-12-21
Pedal-power protests in the 1970s turned Amsterdam into "the capital city of cycling."Spurred on by activist mom Maartje Rutten and friends, a campaign to take back Amsterdam's streets that began with festive, peaceful protests turned more serious when a bike-riding child was killed. With auto traffic banned on Sundays because of a fuel shortage, a dramatic mass ride through a cars-only tunnel seemed to turn the tide. New regulations including special bike lanes, traffic-calming constructions, and new right-of-way laws changed things in Amsterdam and all over the world. The author surrounds this simply told story with endpapers showing bicycle efficiency, bicycle contributions to social progress, great cyclists, and great bikes of the world. He includes statistics about bike-share programs and reasons for using bicycles to get around. As he did in other tales of community transformation, he decorates his text with cheerful pen-and-ink sketches with watercolor wash. Appropriately for the Netherlands, most of the people shown are white; Drummond correctly includes racially diverse cyclists and also provides a 1970s photograph in the author's note showing a smiling rider of African descent. The note recalls his original goal: showing "how wonderful it feels to ride a bike, particularly in a city." That joy is evident throughout; it might even convince some readers to give it a try. Drummond rolls along with another successful story of environmental change. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-9)

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