The Red Bicycle by Jude Isabella

In this story, a boy living in North America, saves all his money up to buy a bike. He loves it but eventually, after years, outgrows it. He decides to donate it overseas and the story follows the bike as it is given to a young girl who helps her family sell produce with the bike. The bike is damaged and ends up being donated again and turned into a hospital bike, for those living in remote villages. A beautiful story about the power of giving.

Kids Can Press, a Canadian publishing company, has a line of books called CitizenKid. Each book aims to expose children to issues around the world and help build global citizens. It is a brilliant and diverse set of books, which The Red Bicycle is a part of.
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​⚈​ 1 Play ideas  ⚈​ 2 Classroom Activities  ⚈​ 3 Links to more Resources
Get your hands on this book here:
Cutting and tracing - Age 2+

Tracing patterns of any kind helps develop children's fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. This activity can be presented to children with a variety of options. They can use their finger to trace shapes and patterns. They can use crayons to make marks along the lines. They can also practise cutting skills along them. We created wheel shapes and road paths to go with The Red Bicycle but this is easy to adapt to any book or theme. 
Information posters - Age 4+

​Doing any kind of non-fiction writing is always more meaningful when it has an actual purpose. The idea in this book is so brilliant, why not share it with others? You can look at other community posters first and decide what information your poster should include. There are many groups who donate bikes overseas, so find one close to you. If your child finds the amount of writing overwhelming, parents can write and kids can draw or decorate. Think about where you can hang your posters - local libraries are a good place to start! Encourage your child to do the talking when asking permission to hang posters. See how much they have really taken in during the process. It is amazing to hear what they have to say!
Mapping the story - Age 4+

Although there is a map in this book showing where the bike travels from and to, it is nice to get a bit more in depth. If you have other maps in the house with more details, pull them out and explore the path the bike would have taken. Discuss where you live and how it is the same or different from the story. If you have travelled anywhere nearby, why not pull out your own travel pictures to share. This could be extended into a research project about Burkina Faso's people and cultures. 
  • Organize, advertise and run a bike drive at your school and then donate them overseas 
  • Learn more about Burkina Faso 
  • If possible, invite any local community members who are from Burkina Faso into your classroom
  • Link up with a school in Burkina Faso and write pen pal letters
  • Study the geography of Burkina Faso and learn about their cities (and the fantastic capital Ouagadougou)
Publishers Kids Can Press have a PDF download with several lesson activity ideas. Find it HERE.

See the book trailer here:
Click below for other books and activities about biking: