I love the beautiful simplicity of this book. A young girl is taught to ride her bike by her dad (or her granddad). He teaches her the mechanics; encourages her; and teaches her the power of persistence. The ink and water color illustrations are pretty, but just a little too "wobbly." It's as though I'm looking at the illustrations through a glass filled with water (which is why I took off one star). I would want something more definitively illustrated for a read-a-loud, but it is a sweet book to read one-on-one. Perfect for a beginning reader a well. ( )

I love reading books by Chris Raschka. I am just now discovering him and am so glad I stumbled upon his creative works. When I first started reading, it looked like the little girl was teaching her dad how to ride a bike, until she was the one falling and trying over and over again. The illustrations in this book made me feel the frustration and struggle of the little girl. I love how on the last page the author mentions "and now you'll never forget how." I remember getting myself a bike last year and I was afraid of riding it because I thought I had forgotten how to ride a bike. But I got on the bike and started pedaling away. This is a great encourager to young readers who are afraid to ride a bike but with persistence and courage, the result of learning is rewarding. ( )

Learning to ride a bike is a fun and exciting moment for everyone. This book covers the excitement, but also the frustrations and the courage it takes to learn how to keep trying.

I give "Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle" four stars because at the end of the book, as the little girl is learning to ride her bike, Chris Raschka describes it "by luck, grace and determination." I don't think it is by luck; it is by practice as previously mentioned in the book. I think "by grace" is bordering sexism, as it's usually associated with girls and women; I bet if a boy was the main character, he wouldn't have used "grace." Instead I would have liked him to use the word "balance." "Determination" is fine. I do, however, appreciate that on the back cover, he included a girl who is brown and two little boys who are green, and yellow and red to show it doesn't matter the color; everyone can learn to ride a bike. The pictures are really cool, too. (: ( )

A good message to not give up, but even though this won a Caldecott, I found some of the illustrations to be a bit awkward. The man helping the child learn to ride a bike (her dad?) is always drawn with his head bent over at a weird angle with a funky half shadow running through his face. Honestly, it was a bit creepy. Other than that, the story was fine, not great or outstanding, but fine. ( )