The Red Bicycle: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bicycle (CitizenKid)

Excellent content describing life in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Shows how just a little assistance creates economic growth and development.

I have become a big fan of Kids Can Press Citizen Kid series. These books usually contain an interesting, informative and often inspiring story that promotes wise/kind world citizenship. The Red Bicycle fits well within these parameters. The story follows the journey of a red bicycle as it makes it way from a city in America where it has been well-loved and used by a boy to Africa into the hands of a young girl who uses the bike to aide her families' survival. Alisetta uses the bike to travel to the fields which helps her scare off the birds which raid her families' sorghum fields which allows her to harvest more than normal. With a larger harvest the family eats better and has a means of transportation to village markets. Eventually the bike becomes an ambulance allowing medical workers to transport the injured to the nearest clinic or hospital. I loved this story because it shows the value is one small act of kindness: the boy's giving up his bike when he's outgrown it. The illustrations are beautiful and strikingly highlight the value of the bike in the lives of those who use it. I also appreciated the information and photographs at the end of the book which shows the value of bicycles in Burkina Faso, the African country where the story takes place. Suggestions for places to donate to or volunteer with are also included. I found the book inspiring and I am now looking for a place to donate my old used bicycle.

We’ve borrowed this book from the library many times and we love it. So I wanted to buy it to give as a present for my sons friend. The delivery person smashed into the mailbox and the book got damaged. There should be a warning this is paperback book for delivery people to be more careful.

I read this with my 7 year old. We would take turns reading each page, otherwise it would take a while to finish if it was just him reading it alone. We read it in one sitting. I found it enjoyable, though not very exciting. I could have almost told the entire story just by looking at the description of the book. I was hoping there would be a little more to the story, but it seemed a little generic. And my son also got a little bored and probably wouldn't have finished it without some serious encouragement on my part.That being said, it's a great message, especially for kids. And I greatly appreciate the links given to research donation opportunities for bikes. I have several old bikes that I don't plan on putting to much use and could see that they may make someone else very happy.If you're looking for some light reading with your child that will also open their eyes to the existence of a less fortunate world than their own, I would recommend this book. But just don't expect an action thriller with unforeseen plot twist. This book is not really meant to be exciting, and it's a little more boring than my son's usual choice of books about wizards or mischievous pre-teen characters.

Leo wants a bike, not just any bike but the red one with 18 gears. He works shoveling snow, cutting lawns and raking leaves until he has enough money to buy it. He rides it everywhere for many years until he is finally too big for it. Because he has taken such good care of the bike, it looks almost new. He wants the bike to go to someone who really needs it and will appreciate it the way he does. When he tells the bike shop owner, he tells Leo about an organization that will take bike donations and send them to countries where they are needed. At the donation area, Leo takes Big Red apart for shipping and soon his bike, along with 461 others, is sailing across the ocean on its way to someone in Africa who really needs it. When Big Red arrives in Africa, it is matched with Alisetta. She learns to ride Big Red so she can get to the fields earlier, harvest more sorghum for her family. She can also ride to market to sell the goods her grandma makes to earn money to she and her little sister can go to school. Alisetta finally earns enough money to buy another bike, but while she is gone to get it, pigs fun over Big Red and bend the spokes and ruin the bike. A worker from a medical clinic takes the bike, repairs it and turns it into an ambulance by attaching a trailer and stretcher on it. Now when people in villages can't otherwise get to the clinic, Haridata can ride to them and even transport them back to the clinic using her bicycle ambulance. Soon people in all the surrounding villages know about the wonderful bicycle ambulance that the kids now call Le Grand Rouge. What a wonderful journey big Read takes and what a useful life it leads. The illustrations are done in a folk art style which adds to the story.This is an awesome book that informs children about the world and inspires them to be better global citizens. The section at the end of the book letting kids know what they can do help with their outgrown or no longer needed bicycles was great and hopefully will encourage them to help others.Thanks to Netgalley and Kids Can Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Nice book...a bit of a bulky cover though that seems unnecessary. The story is nice, I bought for a younger child but I think she will enjoy it more in a couple of years. I bought another as a gift.

Interesting book to introduce children to recycling and helping others. It's done through following the life of a red bicycle. I hope to use this book to introduce my grandson to cycling, travel, environmental issues and how he can help others.