Ready to Ride – a book review

Ready to Ride is a delightful book by Sebastien Pelon aimed at children aged 3 and over. I am delighted to share my book review with you.

 

The first thing that strikes you about the book is how beautifully illustrated it is. The colours are far more subtle than in most children’s books and I liked that. It felt like it would make a really stylish present and capture any child’s imagination.

It has a great message too. Although it is fundamentally about a boy riding his bike for the first time without stabilisers, I felt it had far deeper meaning hidden in its pages. Trying things for the first time at any age from 18 months to 100 years old can be scary. Change is exciting and daunting at the same time. Things can go wrong and we might get hurt. We may seem to fall but then we get on and with new learning set about our tasks again.

It helps if a mentor or kind spirit shows up to share their experience and help us along the road. As well as reminding me of my Dad teaching me to ride my bike many decades ago, the book also made me reflect how I was so lucky to have such a wise Dad always ready to let me try things and to share his life lessons generously but without ever insisting on what I should do in any given situation.

Anyway the basic story of this book is about the little boy who meets a special someone who might be an imaginary friend although the creature also reminded me of the Snowman in the famous Christmas tale too. Someone who is kind and someone to have fun with on a joint adventure.

This  book is so heart warming for children who are going to learn to ride their bike for the first time or to take on any independent enterprise. As a grown-up I loved it too and it made me feel ready to take on the world too.

Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Ready-Ride-S%C3%A9bastien-Pelon/dp/1910277738

Kate Davis-Holmes