Bikes for Sale

by Carter Higgins, Zachariah O'Hora (Illustrator)

Overview

“A fun story of two bicycle enthusiasts who accidentally meet and develop a friendship . . . Full of musings about potential that can be inspiring.” —School Library Journal
 
Maurice rides his bike to his shop every day. Lotta rides her bike to collect sticks every day. Both go about their separate routines, unaware of the friendship that awaits them just a few blocks away. But what happens when a branch and a lemon peel get in the way? This delightful falling-in-like story from acclaimed picture book creators Carter Higgins and Zachariah OHora celebrates the power of coincidence to lead us to the friends we're meant to meet all along.
 
“A fun, clever book about two bike-loving animals who take different paths to work every day . . . Carter Higgins’ writing is spot on, and Zachariah OHora’s bold and colorful illustrations are fun and inviting.” —Book Riot
 
“[This] gentle story celebrates the ways in which serendipity can lead to friendship and sharing.” —Booklist
 
“A sweet, quiet, different take on the familiar new-friendship trope . . . Readers will meet endearing new pals.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“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.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Maurice and Lotta’s tale keeps the reader guessing, and the meet-cute ending is satisfying. OHora’s art is as fresh and funny as ever.” —The Little Crooked Cottage

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452159546
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	03/22/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	AD500L (what's this?)
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Carter Higgins is an elementary school librarian and the author of Everything You Need for a Treehouse and This Is Not a Valentine. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Zachariah OHora is the illustrator of the New York Times bestseller Wolfie the Bunny, among many other beloved books for kids. He lives and works in Narberth, Pennsylvania.

Editorial Reviews

02/20/4

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. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"A fun, clever book about two bike-loving animals who take different paths to work every day... Carter Higgins' writing is spot on, and Zachariah OHora's bold and colorful illustrations are fun and inviting." —Book Riot

"[This] gentle story celebrates the ways in which serendipity can lead to friendship and sharing." - Booklist

"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." —Publishers Weekly

"Maurice and Lotta's tale keeps the reader guessing, and the meet-cute ending is satisfying. OHora's art is as fresh and funny as ever." - The Little Crooked Cottage

"A sweet, quiet, different take on new-friendship." -—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

04/01/2019

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

School Library Journal

2019-01-15

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)

Kirkus Reviews