Review by Booklist Review
In a small neighborhood in Bogotá, Colombia, 10-year-old Fabio uses his beloved salmon-colored his bike to cruise the neighborhood and deliver his mother's bread to the neighbors, until one day he suffers a fall and forgets how to ride. Sadness overwhelms him, and he pushes peers and friends away as he tries to rediscover his happiness. Little does he know that he will find a true friendship and a reason to smile with his aging next-door neighbor, who sees him as a son. Eventually, Fabio begins delivering bread by walking through the neighborhood instead of speeding through it on his bike. Presented in Spanish and English, perfect for bilingual readers and those looking to learn, this book has gorgeous illustrations, painted with great detail in a range of soft grays, that fill multiple pages and propel the story wordlessly forward, while conveying the feel of a Colombian barrio. Themes of friendship, love, and loss generate a strong emotional pull in this reflective, lyrical debut.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bookended by striking charcoal illustrations, this kinetic dual-language novel by debut author Algorta visually introduces readers to the streets of Bogotá, Colombia, where its young protagonist roams, before diving into its tête-bêche bilingual narrative. Described in the back matter as a means "to evoke old photographs and memory," the art immediately establishes the mood of Algorta's lyrical tale. Fabio, a 10-year-old boy more comfortable on his salmon-colored bicycle than his own feet ("the son of Hecate, goddess of the wheel"), has navigated his city, delivered bread, and led a pack of neighborhood kids since he learned to pedal. But when a fall causes him to forget how to ride, a restless Fabio searches for a way to regain his ability to cycle, befriending older neighbor Alicia and questioning the truths of the world along the way. Told from the third-person perspective, Algorta's narrative glides with skillful pacing and poetic yet accessible language; Rickenmann's soft, detail-rich illustrations tonally match the refined internal rhythm of Algorta's prose ("When he was on his bicycle, the dust danced with him"), supported by Salazar's (Land of the Cranes) faithful, sophisticated translation. Ages 8--12. Agent (for Algorta): Pablo de la Vega, Babel Libros; (for Salazar) Marietta Zacker, Gallt & Zacker. (Aug.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Once ten-year-old Fabio learns how to ride a bike, his feet rarely touch the ground. The legendary "half boy half bike" spends his days making deliveries to his bread-maker mother's customers and exploring the far reaches of his sprawling hometown of Bogota, Colombia, often accompanied by a pack of kids who follow his lead. Then comes the fateful day when he simply forgets how to ride, tipping over every time he tries to pedal. Fabio sinks into a deep funk. With his mother delivering her bread herself, Fabio stays with an elderly neighbor, Alicia. The two become fast friends and share truths, losses, and disillusionments. When Fabio sets out to convince her that the sea really does exist even though she has never made the journey there, he heads toward the water and doesn't worry about falling. Algorta's timeless, engaging debut (presented in English and Spanish, back to back) is about adapting to change and finding one's own truths. Rickenmann's atmospheric charcoal art begins and ends the tale wordlessly, capturing the vastness of Bogota and serving as a visual metaphor for the wider world through which we all move. A memorable and meaningful ride. Luann Toth January/February 2022 p.105(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A 10-year-old boy's ride to discover friendship and truth. Fabio, who lives in Bogotá, Colombia, in a neighborhood that "used to be a town on the outskirts of the city, but the monster began to grow and ate the town," has loved to ride his salmon-colored bike since the day his bus driver father, Roberto, taught him how. He rides it so often that it has become like a part of his own body, and he uses it to deliver his mother's bread to the neighbors. That is, until the day when, without knowing how it happened, he forgets how to ride and falls multiple times. Fabio pushes his friends away, instead staying home and falling into deep sadness. As he delivers bread on foot to Mamalicia, their aging next-door neighbor who always calls him son, the two form an unlikely friendship as they deal with deception, truth, and loss. With quiet, emotive illustrations reminiscent of Allen Say's and Brian Selznick's, Rickenmann pulls readers onto the streets of Bogotá, where dust announces the arrival of the children who ride in bicycle packs, providing a view of busy streets and the barrio. The book is presented in both English and Spanish versions; Salazar's translation masterfully replicates the distant-yet-confiding tone of Algorta's Spanish original, fully conveying the story and its vivid images. An unmissable tale about loss and reclamation. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
