Bike On, Bear!

by Cynthea Liu, Kristyna Litten (Illustrator)

Overview

Bear can do everything—except ride a bike. Discover how he overcomes his two-wheeled challenge in this irresistibly adorable picture book!

Bear can do almost anything. His one-paw pawstand is perfection. He can solve the trickiest of equations. He can even out-build a brigade of beavers. But the one thing Bear can’t do? Ride a bike.

Bear tries everything to help him learn: library books, training wheels and super-cheers from his fellow animal friends. But all of those fail to get poor Bear on two wheels.The situation is looking unbearable—but an unexpected mishap might be just the thing that propels Bear to bike on!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481405065
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	06/02/2015
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,080,666
Product dimensions:	11.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Kristyna studied Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art and graduated in 2010. She now lives in a beautiful village in Yorkshire. Her first picture book, Flint's Odd Socks, followed by Chickens Can't See In The Dark were highly commended for the Macmillan Prize two years running. Kristyna has written and illustrated the brilliant Blue & Bertie and Norton & Alpha for Simon & Schuster, and the stunning Ziggy and the Moonlight Show will publish in 2018.
 

Editorial Reviews

06/01/2015
K-Gr 2—"Bear is no ordinary cub" begins this writerly story replete with puns, a sound narrative structure, and funny moments that will make kids cheer the protagonist along. His flaw is stage center: he can't ride a bike. He aces school, especially mathematics, has a helpful nature, and is a budding gymnast, but for him, biking is "unbearable." He questions whether it is a lack of intelligence, or a lack of confidence. His mother sends him to the library because you can "learn anything there," and he finds a how-to book. When a young goat is getting carried away by a fierce costal wind, Bear finds the opportunity to put all his knowledge of science, math, and gymnastics into one tour-de-force to save the kid in danger. There is a small-town sensibility here, yet with a background of historic buildings and the connotation of a city, there is depth to the sense of place. The palette is exquisite, with pale oranges and aqua blues, with added retro touches of background textures such as graph paper. The cartoon-style illustrations are gentle in nature and detailed enough to interest readers. VERDICT Fans of Kate DiCamillo will enjoy this book that encourages students to become well-rounded, and demonstrates how athletic, social, and academic skills can be applied in unexpected ways.—Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City

School Library Journal

2015-03-03
Bear can do anything he puts his mind to—except ride a bike.Bear is a whiz at facts and figures. He can do a backward pike somersault on the balance beam. But every time he tries to ride his bike, even with training wheels, he falls or crashes. Bear just can't do it. The situation worsens when a park opens in town, and Bear can't join his friends on the new bike path, which arbitrarily and unkindly bans training wheels. (This is helpful to the plot, though.) Everyone is having fun without him. So Bear does what any desperate, lumpy little fellow like him should do—he goes to the library in search of answers. A book tells him how to ride a bike in four easy steps. The last step is the most important: don't think about it too much. But Bear can't stop thinking about it. He mulls it over and worries until everything becomes a disaster, even his triple back-paw-spring. Luckily, a sudden meteorological disaster (sharp readers will spot a hint in Koala's newspaper) helps Bear spring into action and overcome his fears—without stopping to think! Bear's supportive friends and family, along with Litten's warm-hued, cozy illustrations, drape the story in comfort, even during Bear's many tumbles and spills. This pivotal childhood milestone is often defined by fear, but this variant is for young brooders everywhere. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews