Hello, Bicycle
Ages 4-7 Boyd s debut centers on a girl who trades her babyish blue plastic tricycle for a red two-wheeler: Bye, Bye, Blue./Hello, red!/ Shiny paint./ Smokin tread. Pared-down couplets chronicle the girl s maiden voyage on the bike, which requires some careful navigation ( Miss the rock./ Skim the hole./ Squish the hose./Dodge the pole ), but proceeds remarkably, and perhaps unrealistically, smoothly. Twice Boyd breaks form to use a bit of repetition that echoes the bouncy ride of a bicycle down the street: Down the hill I bump, bump, bump./ Feel it on my rump, rump rump is later followed by My little heart goes thump, thump, thump,/ when I make the jump... bump, rump. Griffo s brassy, digital cartoons have a kid-pleasing Nickelodeon vibe and feature electric colors and skewed perspectives, giving the heroine a cheerful, textured, and fully realized world to explore. Though the girl is in constant motion, there s little action to the story; it s best suited to those just starting to read as well as ride on their own. --Publishers Weekly, August Issue