The Girl and the Bicycle

One of my all-time FAVORITE picture books to share with young learners. This beautiful story is told through a series of pictures only - there are no words in this book, only illustrations, so children (even non-readers) will be excited to "read" it on their own. A very touching and heartwarming tale that incorporates SO many wonderful character traits - determination, hard-work, perseverance, empathy, generosity, selflessness, kindness, and gratitude - all demonstrated simply through illustrations.Over the years, I've shared this book countless times with my students and it soon becomes a class favorite. Parents often ask me about the "bicycle" book that their child never stops talking about at home so that they may buy their own copy. The illustrations are all done in shades of light brown, except for the bicycle which is colored green to signify its importance in the story. I pause on each page to let the children look at the body language and scenic context. I also ask the students to make predictions and inferences on what the characters are doing and why they might be doing it. I've read The Girl and the Bicycle dozens of times, and EVERY time without fail, I get choked up when I get to the absolutely beautiful ending.This is a great book to give as a gift to an expectant mom because without words, the book can be shared with children from a very young age. A book-themed baby shower is such a great way of establishing a home library for a newborn baby. I hope this amazing picture book will become one of your favorites, too!

Another day, another wonderful book recommendation for those of you who love reading picture books about kindness! The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett is a gem that somehow conveys lessons about perseverance, hard work, selflessness, and generosity (and more!) in sepia-toned illustrations with sparse splashes of color and no words!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀When looking for books about sharing, generosity, and selfishness, I came across The Girl and the Bicycle on a list, got it from the library, and fell in love with it immediately! Pett tells the story of a girl who wants to buy a new bike. She takes initiative to search for odd jobs around her neighborhood so that she can earn and save money (yet another fabulous talking point), but meets great disappointment when she finally has enough money to buy it. The generosity that she both gives and receives in the end is truly heart-warming and has inspired my girls' relationships with each other.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀And now the illustrations... Pett's illustrations here are extremely simple. I love this just as much as our wordless books that are full of details! This lack of detail allows the story to unfold smoothly, to be interpreted easily, and to help all readers connect with the characters. Since my girls' attention has been mainly on the characters, not on the scenery, we’ve had wonderful conversations about reading facial expressions and body language.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀But, this doesn't mean there isn't more to see with each reading! In fact, every time my girls and I read this, they notice things I haven't noticed before (such as the tricycle in the corner of the very first illustration or the fact that the little brother and the cat appear to be playing hide-and-seek on one page)!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Also, one of my favorite picture books to use for specific social-emotional learning lessons with my third graders was also written by Pett -- The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes. It’s definitely worth a read with elementary-aged children. My third graders always loved it, and my 3.5- and almost-6-year-olds both love it, too!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀If you liked this, check out:* Extra Yarn* Should I Share My Ice Cream?* Those Shoes* If You Plant a Seed

This book is amazing! I read it to my 3rd graders every year and we always find new meaning in it each time we read it. Love. Love! Great message even though it is wordless.

Lovely book without words with a strong/positive girl character. Sweet (borderline too sweet) story about a girl who covets a bike, works to earn money, ultimately buying a different bike for her little brother. And yet she's rewarded in the end.There are not a lot of books without words that are good. See also these GOOD books:3-book series:  Journey a few separate books with overlapping characters:  The Adventures of Polo: A Picture Book a little fox steals a stuffed animal from a girl, but they are friends at the end:  Little Fox in the Forest

Cute and a different spin on a normal bedtime story. No words and all illustrations was kind of fun. We made up our own story as we went. It brings out their imagination and depicts a great sibling story of generosity and hard-work.

This story is one of the most beautiful stories I've "read." It's wordless, but filled with values.... sharing, kindness to others, generosity, respect for the elderly, recognizing the needs/desires of others, fiscal responsibility... the list goes one. One of our favorite books!

My favorite kids book of the year. Though it's a wordless book, there are so many things that can be talked about, particularly issues of character such as perseverance, determination, hard work, generosity, dealing with disappointment, etc. The book has an element of surprise and is truly heart warming.

This is one of my favorite wordless books to use with my students. The pictures are simple but expressive and the story is a truly beautiful one.

Beautiful book, simply illustrated with a wonderful message about hard-work and kindness. My 5 year old son absolutely loves it.

Manche Bücher berühren dein Herz und machen sprachlos, sogar wenn sie frei von Worten und Text sind!So ging es mir mit diesem besonderen, warmherzigen Wordlessbook von Mark Pett.In diesem Buch entdeckt ein Mädchen gemeinsam mit ihrem kleinen Bruder ein wunderschönes grünes Fahrrad in einem Schaufenster. Zuhause angekommen zählt sie das Geld aus ihrem Sparschwein, sucht Münzen in Hosentaschen, in der Waschmaschine und im Sofa, aber das Geld reicht leider nicht aus. Daraufhin greift sie einer Nachbarin unter die Arme beim Laubrechen, im Winter beim Schneeschippen, im Frühjahr beim Anpflanzen und im Sommer beimSchneiden der Hecke. Als das Jahr um ist hat sie endlich genug Geld gespart, um sich das Rad kaufen zu können. Aber das Rad steht plötzlich nicht mehr im Schaufenster…Das Ende ist wunderschön und herzerwärmend und das gleich suf zweierlei Art. Ich möchte nicht spoilern, denn dieses Buch ist es Wert, „gelesen“zu werden. Ich musste sogar ein paar Tränchen wegblinzeln, als ich es zuklappte.Das Buch lehrt uns und unseren Kindern, dass die Welt durchaus gerecht sein kann, dass andere Leute auf Hilfe mit Gegenhilfe reagieren können und geschwisterliche Liebe etwas Wunderbares ist. Und dass es sich lohnt auf ein Ziel hinzuarbeiten, möge es auch länger dauern…!Jedes Mal wieder finde ich es bemerkenswert, wie viel ein Buch ausdrücken kann allein durch die Kraft und die Magie der Illustrationen und die sind hier sehr einfach und einfärbig gehalten. Nur das Wunschobjekt, das Rad ist in Grün gefärbt, der Rest des Buches verweilt in warmen Brauntönen.Wenn ihr mal wieder ein Buch in der Hand haben wollt, das sprachlos macht und das Herz erwärmt, greift zu diesem hier! ❤️

disegni dal tratto leggero e elegante, storia completamente priva di baloon tutta basata sulle sitazione e sull'espressività dei personaggi rappresentata in pochi semplici tratti

sweet story. Book was is great condition.

Great for any age! Has a great message. Students can write a reading response. Great to use in the classroom!