Bike Ride, The

From the creative minds behind Reading Rainbow comes The Bike Ride, a charming picture book about one meaningful bike ride and our changing environmental landscape.

Dave and his dad spend every summer at a house near the beach. And every day, they go on a bike ride. As they ride along, they see blue jays singing, squirrels scampering up trees, and their favorite place of all: a beautiful inlet overlooking the ocean, with a lighthouse in the distance.

But one day, things change. A big yellow bulldozer is digging up trees, clearing the land to build something. Dave is worried about what will happen to the animals who live in those trees.

Whimsical illustrations bring to life this story of ecological and emotional change as Dave finds clever ways to adjust―and makes a new friend.

NELSON GOOSE grew up in a small village in Ireland called Sixmilebridge. He never knew why it was called Sixmilebridge. It had no bridge and wasn’t six miles from anywhere. He was born in 1893, so you would think he was one very old goose; but like Peter Plan, he never grew up, which is okay with him, although it concerns his mother.

When Nelson was three, he wanted to be a fireman. At five he wanted to be a policeman; by eighteen, he wanted to save the world. Although that last goal has eluded him for the better part of ten decades, he continues to try. Sometimes, when Nelson gets overwhelmed with the task of saving the world, he settles on saving just the environment. Which after all is the best way of saving the whole world.

Nelson Goose now splits his time between Gotham City and a small village in Ireland called Newmarket-on-Fergus. If you go there, don’t look for a new market, as there isn’t one, although there is an old man named Fergus.