Ben Rides On
A Picture Book
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Ben loves his new bike. In fact, he loves it so much he even likes riding to school (especially if he can take the long way around)! That is, until an encounter with the local bully, Adrian Underbite, leaves Ben bike-less. When Ben discovers where his bike actually is, the reader is in for a dramatic, and literal, cliffhanger.
Will Ben ever be able to get his bike back?
Find out in this hilarious and tender tale by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Matt Davies.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2013
A Neal Porter Book
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Illustration comes naturally to Davies his editorial cartoons won him a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 and this satisfying tale of a boy, his beloved bicycle, and the bully who steals it is a fine debut. When the marvelously lunkheaded Adrian Underbite takes Ben's bicycle for a joyride and hurtles off a cliff, Ben leans over the edge and sees Adrian clinging to a tiny branch. "How extraordinarily terrible," Ben thinks, though his toothy grin conveys quite another emotion. But Ben's conscience smites him, and he goes back to rescue Adrian with results that blend decency and humor. Davies's figures have string-bean bodies and bobbly heads, and they dash headlong through the spreads. A crow sidekick provides extra mirth: "Hauling the big galoot proved to be a challenge," Davies writes about the cliff rescue, "but Ben pulled Adrian to safety (with some help from a friend)." The crow appears next to Ben, pulling for all it's worth; after its magnificent exertion, it topples over, exhausted. A story about doing the right thing that pumps up the laughs and evades smarminess. Ages 4 7.