Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen
by
Cari Best
illustrated by
Christine Davenier
Edition
-
Publisher
Farrar Straus Giroux
Imprint
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN
0374363862
When Sally Jean is five, the training wheels on her yard-sale bike finally come off. Soon she's zooming down the street and singing: "I can pop a wheelie, I can touch the sky, I can pedal backwards, I can really fly!" Then she turns six, and the seat needs raising; at seven, the handlebars do, too. When she's eight, her knees bump the handlebars, and her shoes scrape the ground. What's a Bicycle Queen to do? Full-color art.
Details
Format
Page Count
32
Trim Size
9" x 11 1/2"
Dewey
E
AR
4.3: points 0.5
Lexile
AD800L
Scholastic Reading Counts
1
JLG Release
Jun 2006
Praise & Reviews
Starred or favorable reviews have been received from these periodicals:
Booklist, The Horn Book Guide, School Library Journal*
Praise & Reviews
School Library Journal
As a toddler, Sally Jean rides on the back of her mother's bicycle. She graduates to a tricycle at age two. By age four, she has her own yard-sale bike with training wheels. Those baby wheels come off the next year and she becomes Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen, who rides like a pro on her bike named Flash. By the time Sally Jean is eight, she has outgrown her beloved Flash. Her parents can't afford a new bike, but her neighbor, a junk collector, comes to her rescue. In exchange for cleaning his yard, he gives Sally Jean used parts. Soon she is repairing other kids' bikes, but still doesn't have one of her own–until the child comes up with an idea. Davenier's ink-and-watercolor illustrations are light and airy and convey a variety of emotions and delightful details. Sally Jean is a real charmer, and children will appreciate her resourcefulness and tenacity. Pair this terrific book with Bruce McMillan's The Remarkable Riderless Runaway Tricycle (Apple Island Bks, 1985) or Jim Aylesworth's My Sister's Rusty Bike (S & S, 1996) for a storyhour with a great deal of flash.
Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME
Horn Book
Sally Jean outgrows her bicycle, which she had named Flash, and can't afford a replacement. Some bike repair lessons and a helpful junk-collecting neighbor supply everything she needs to create her new bike: Lightning. The rollicking text includes frequent singsong verses about the love of biking, while the exuberant, roughly scrawled and splashily colored cartoon illustrations extend the freewheeling feeling.
Grades 1-3
Easy Reading Plus
For Grades 1-3
Don't stop at just 12. Order this extended category and treat your students to even more challenges-with 12 additional Easy Reading titles delivered to your library each year.
14 books per Year
$258.44 per Year
Interests
Beginning Readers,Chapter Books,Fiction,Picture Books
Grades 1-3
Easy Reading Plus
14 books per Year
$258.44 per Year
