Zoe, Max and the Bicycle Bus celebrates the fun and adventures you can have bike riding with friends and caring for our planet at the same time.
When their new teacher Ms Dillon introduces Grade 5D to a Bicycle Bus, travelling to school becomes a lot more fun!
Ms Dillon leads the bicycle bus
with her shiny red bike
and she calls for us
to
stay
in
single
file
nottooclosetogether
not too far apart.
We roll down Burton Street,
a caterpillar of clanking gears
and whirring pedals.
But there’s a narrow stretch on Fisher Road with no white line to separate the cyclists from the traffic where the cars feel louder and closer and faster. When a ute carrying a pile of timber passes dangerously close to Ms Dillon, it's Zoe and Max who come up with a bold and clever plan that might involve breaking a few rules. Will they succeed in making the bike ride to school safer?
As the students in 5D ride their Bicycle Bus to school it's heartwarming to see their friendships and independence grow. Dabir's grandfather was a wise man when he said 'A bicycle makes a sound heart'. What do you think he meant?
Zoe, Max and the Bicycle Bus is a free verse novel. It has verses, but it doesn't rhyme like a poem. There are less words, but each word is carefully chosen. The length of sentences, sentence breaks and use of white space are important in writing free verse. In this book there are different perspectives as the characters narrate their story and reveal their feelings about riding to school. Jordi has been wearing his bike helmet at breakfast every day hoping his mum would let him ride to school one day, Max loves doing wheelies, Olivia can fix a puncture in no time, Dabir's dad has proudly given him the bike he rode as a boy in his village, while Zoe's bike named Esmerelda has been carefully cleaned so it sparkles.
Steven Herrick's passion for bike riding and the environment shine in this story, particularly through Ms Dillon as she quietly empowers her students and the school bike racks begin to fill.
Zoe, Max and the Bicycle Bus is a book that will have you smiling and wanting to grab your bike and ride with your friends!
If you have enjoyed reading this verse novel, I highly recommend you read Bully on the Bus, Too Many Friends and On Track by Kathryn Apel or The Little Wave by Pip Harry that have also been published by UQP.
Thank you for the copy of this book to review UQP.
Happy reading!
