In this unique nonfiction picture book, the main character is a bicycle
that starts its life like so many bicycles in North America, being owned
and ridden by a young boy. The boy, Leo, treasures his bicycle so much
he gives it a name --- Big Red. But eventually Leo outgrows Big Red, and
this is where the bicycle's story takes a turn from the everyday,
because Leo decides to donate it to an organization that ships bicycles
to Africa. Big Red is sent to Burkina Faso, in West Africa, where it
finds a home with Alisetta, who uses it to gain quicker access to her
family's sorghum field and to the market. Then, over time, it finds its
way to a young woman named Haridata, who has a new purpose for the
bicycle --- renamed Le Grand Rouge --- delivering medications and
bringing sick people to the hospital.
This book makes an excellent choice for cultural studies classes; author
Jude Isabella has provided several terrific suggestions in the back of
the book for projects large and small, while a map shows the distance
the bicycle traveled across the Atlantic Ocean. Award-winning
illustrator Simone Shin's digitally composed artwork includes evocative
depictions of Alisetta's and Haridata's communities in rural Africa,
creating vivid comparisons between Leo's life and their lives.
Youngsters will learn how different the world is for those who rely on
bicycles as a mode of transportation, and how one ordinary bicycle ---
and a child's desire to make a difference --- can change lives across
the world. This book also offers an excellent opportunity for expanding
character education lessons on caring, compassion and empathy to include
the wider world.
