Ready to Ride

A gentle story of a child learning how to ride a bike without training wheels. The vocabulary shows that this is a book from England, rather than the US, but the differences are not overwhelming. The artwork carries most of the story -- this is, in effect, a graphic novel for very young readers, rather than a picture book.

An enjoyable book for the younger ones, where a child finds a most unlikely friend to advise him in cycling, and to take his training wheels off. I loved the palette used for the big splash illustrations, but I found the more conversational, comic-book styled scenes a little less enjoyable. Still, for that specific time in your young life when you're learning to run and ride free, this is fine.

I really liked this book. A boy, who had done his chores and played at home for too long, rides on his bike. Although he is afraid, he is REALLY wanting to take off the training wheels. He goes on a rural adventure where he can ride with few problems. He has his "furry friend" with him all of the way who reminds him (sometimes after the fact) of safety. Issues such as wearing a helmet and appropriate speed for conditions can be overlooked - but he really knows about that.
This is a sweet, fun, imaginative read. Explore and teach!

Many thanks to Quarto Publishing and NetGalley for this fun read!

A child goes through riding a bike experience and through it grows up. Super cute and easy to follow for the younger kids through the imagery. Would be a good conversation book/ read out loud with parents or caretakers. Dives into growing up and not needing the same things as you once did,etc.

Downloaded from Netgalley thanks to the publishers for an honest review



Definitely would recommend.

Ready to Ride is an odd little book. I adored the the art but the story was just ok for me, and I suspect some parents might feel a bit apprehensive about possible inadvertent messaging in this one.

After he is sent outside to play on a grey and gloomy day, our little hero decides to hop on his bike to follow an imaginary creature out into the countryside. It doesn't take long for the little guy to have a bit of a fit when he can't keep up with the furry creature due to his training wheels. A few nibbles later, the training wheels are off, and it's time to learn how to ride for real.

It takes a few false starts, but with a furry friend who is patient and kind, it doesn't take long before the child is riding his bike like a big kid. At the end of the day, he realizes he's capable on his own and doesn't need the furry friend to be able to do things on his own.

The main problem that niggled at me throughout this entire story was that this kid either wandered off alone from the city into the countryside or else he thought it was perfectly ok to traipse off after some stranger on a bike. The end of the story left things up in the air a bit about what was real and what was imaginary. The kid left the house with no bandage on his knee nor helmet on his head, but when he returned, he was wearing both; items which had been given to him by the "furry friend".

I suppose this might be a good book to read together with a discussion about boundaries. Overall I did enjoy this book, and was thoroughly charmed with the illustrations, so it gets 4 solid stars from me.

Cute story with great illustrations. I think we would recommend it for paperback though as we would have liked it better instead of on the Kindle. We would have been able to see the wonderful illustrations better. That's our recommendation -- great book!

Ready to Ride is a children's picture book that takes an imaginative turn. We meet a bored little boy who is encouraged by his mother to go outside (one gets the sense she is over his attitude and figures fresh air will do him good).

Then "a ball of fur wearing a pink hat" bikes past. The boy is intrigued and hops on his bike to follow. Much of the book follows him getting frustrated with his training wheels as he feels they're holding him back, then we witness the expected trial and error until he figures out how to ride a bike on his own. All alongside him is this large creature, encouraging and supporting him.

The colorful illustrations add to the story, and children will enjoy the pages where they follow the path of the boy and his over-sized friend.

The illustrations in the book are masterful. I would hang any or all on my walls as art. The story is interesting. It doesn't have a solid flow. It takes some of its ideas from graphic novels, with various little pictures showing the reader the story progression. A boy is bored. His mom sends him outside to play where he meets a giant white fur ball in a pink hat. And this fur ball is going to help our boy learn to ride his bike without fear. I like the story, but because of it’s set up, I don't think I would read it at storytime, but I would buy it for someone as a gift.

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Young cyclists can take inspiration from READY TO RIDE, in which a little boy meets up with an imaginary friend for a bike ride. Lovely soft illustrations and a creative design captivate young readers learning freestyle cycling. Highly recommended!

Grateful to the Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures and NetGalley for the early copy, in exchange for my true review.

#ReadyToRide #NetGalley

A little boy is very bored. The weather is dull and that makes him want to stay inside. He's done some playing, reading, colouring, drawing, and sticking. He's run out of ideas to keep himself busy. His mom gives him a suggestion:

"Go and play outside, sweetheart.
But be careful - and don't go too far!"

The little boy takes his mom's advice and out he goes. Once outdoors he discovers that the street is empty... but is it really? In the distance he notices a funny shape getting closer and closer. He soon realizes that it is a huge ball of fur wearing a pink hat and it glides right past him riding a teeny-tiny bike.

Curiousity overtakes the little guy and he hops on his bike and follows after this weird stranger wanting to find out more about him.

Luckily the odd creature is a friendly, caring stranger who after eating the little boys training wheels (yes you heard me right, he did swallow them up)... takes it upon himself to guide, support and finally see the little boy accomplish the awesome task of riding a two-wheeler all on his own just like the big boys.

This book is about friendship and the joy and celebration of learning to ride a two-wheeler independently. This is a fun, imaginative book that kids will love I'm sure. A side-note is that it is a teaching moment to talk about riding off all on your own and following strangers that you don't know. This day and age that can pose a huge safety factor and needs to be addressed after the book is read.

A truly beautiful book visually, with some beautifully drawn landscapes and cityscapes. It's a gentle story about the frustrations of learning to ride and bike and picking yourself back up again, under the guise of a little boy being helped by a mysterious big creature in a red hat.

Whilst the story and visuals are indeed lovely, and there are a good variety of page layouts which are all effective, one can't help but think that the helpful creature is very reminiscent of Baymax from the film 'Big Hero 6', and so it doesn't feel wholly original.

The most important thing, however, is that it's utterly charming, and would make a fantastic story for helping your child persevere if they are struggling to learn to ride a bike.

This book tells the story of a young boy who is bored but ends up going out on his bike that has stabilisers on. He meets a mysterious ball of fur wearing a pink hat and riding a bicycle. They go off together, Before too long the boy can’t keep up, as his extra wheels are slowing him down. The ball of fur takes off the wheels and teaches the little boy how to ride his bike. They ride off to the countryside and have the best day ever, on,y for the ball of fur to disappear when the little boy turned around. Was he ever really there? An excellent and engaging book that my six year old grandson loved.

An absolutely adorable book about the joys of learning self-confidence disguised as an adorable book about bicycle riding. The art is perfectly charming.

This is a WONDERFUL book!. This is the story of a boy who learns to ride his bike without training wheels, with the assistance of a very unique helpmate, The charming illustrations could almost tell the story all by themselves but then the reader would be denied the boy's endearing observations about himself, his new friend, and their adventure. An added bonus - children in the US will learn a new word for "bandaid." Highly recommended!

Ready to Ride is a picturebook written and illustrated by Sébastien Pelon. A little boy is told to play outside by his mum and bumps into an imaginary friend with whom he goes for a bike ride. At first he finds it difficult to keep up, but with the imaginary friend’s help he takes off the bike’s training wheels and learns to ride.

Ready to Ride is a fun story with smooth, charming illustrations. The boy's efforts to learn to ride is well done ad sweet. The story is certainly light-hearted, but still manages to encourage kids to keep trying and practicing, showing them that putting in some effort is the only way to learn and get better. I enjoyed the read, but must admit that there were some formatting issues with my digital galley, which I know will not effect readers in the final copy. That made it slightly more challenging to read- however it was worth the effort and I found the book to be enjoyable and sweet.

Ready to Ride is a French import that shows a little boy learning to ride his bike without training wheels with the help of a large, fluffy white monster (who causes the situation by eating the boy's training wheels). The boy goes through the stages of bike-learning and is ultimately triumphant. The story is missing a spark that would have turned it from good to great, but it is still a solid story that will be valued by new bike riders everywhere.

This is a cute book (a combination picture book/graphic novel) for young children. A young boy has finished his chores and played at home. He sees a large creature and hops on his bike to follow him. He can't keep up and wants to take off his training wheels to go faster. He is scared, but with the help of his new friend, he accomplishes this task. He heads off on a rural adventure where he can ride with few problems. It is nice that his large furry friend reminds him of bike safety. This is a cute book that needs to be taken at face value, the imagination of this young boy has helped him gain the confidence to ride his bike without training wheels. If the issue of riding off without his parent's knowledge bothers readers, then just discussing with the child that this is a story and the creature is only imaginary with the listener or child should be sufficient. The illustrations are simple, yet imaginative and beautiful. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this story to read. The rating, opinions and ideas are my own.

This was a cute story that teaches perseverance while learning to ride a bike without training wheels, which many students can relate to. I loved the vivid illustrations and they were very imaginative. From a teacher librarian’s perspective, if I were to use this story during a read aloud and tie it in to a character trait lesson about perseverance, I think it would be important to also have a small teachable moment about stranger danger (even though this stranger was a large monster like creature) and about riding your bike in a familiar place and not going too far from home. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!