Birth of the Bicycle: A Bumpy History of the Bicycle in America 1819–1900

Polished illustrations by Italian artist Bruno draw immediate attention in this bicycle history. Digitally colored pencil drawings of 19th-century city scenes supply historical context, while images of the early machines make it easier to understand how novel the contraptions were amid horse-and-carriage transport. Nelson’s sometimes shaky verse introduces the iterations, including an early pedal-less velocipede from Germany, upon which riders sat, steered, and hoped for the best (“Laws were written and hastily passed/ No velocipedes on the walking paths!”), and a brake-less version that arrived from France. Not until the appearance of brakes, rubber tires, spokes, and other features in the 1890s did bicycles become affordable and popular, including with women riders, who “were off with a zoom/ in split skirts and high boots and bold pantaloons.” The book, like the bicycle, moves briskly along, tracing a path from luxury item to mode of transportation for the masses. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. More information about bicycles concludes. Ages 6–9. (June)