Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 02/15/2024 At dusk, a mother and child set out on a bike ride, mom sporting a blue striped helmet while the kid, seated at the front of mom's bike, wears one decorated with hearts. As they go, they run into friends, greet strangers, and fly past gridlocked car traffic. Soon enough, mom and child, who narrate their journey in playful rhyming text, are surrounded by fellow riders (all, importantly, wearing helmets). Graphic novelist and picture-book author-illustrator Knisley (You Are New, 2019; Apple Crush, 2022) packs her boldly painted illustrations with detail that kids will want to stop and pore over, depicting a wide variety of people, families, and bicycles. (Even the book's endpapers feature dozens of unique riders.) Music pours out of a speaker as a rainbow of sound, pets sit in bike baskets, and sometimes pigeons get in the way—we're outside, after all. The message here is one of togetherness as a family and as a community, riding a bike for sheer pleasure, with no destination in mind, and kids (and grown-ups) will happily ride along. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.