Noodles on a Bicycle
by Kyo Maclear; illus. by Gracey Zhang
Preschool, Primary    Random House Studio/Random    40 pp.
8/24    9780593706084    $18.99
Library ed.  9780593706091    $21.99
e-book ed.  9780593706107    $10.99

The creators of The Big Bath House (rev. 11/21) take readers back to Japan, this time for a wild bicycle ride through mid-twentieth-century Tokyo. A group of children, one of whom serves as the book’s narrator, eagerly watches as a delivery man sets off on his bicycle in the morning, balancing on his shoulder an impossibly tall tower of stacked soup bowls and noodle boxes. With vivid descriptions of the sights and sounds of the city, the text sets readers right down in the middle of the scenes, while the writing makes for an animated read-aloud: the delivery men are “artists. Architects. Tough talkers. Speedy spinners. But mostly, they are acrobats.” Illustrations done in ink and gouache capture the circus-like thrill of the cyclist navigating his precarious tower through busy streets to reach his destinations: a university, a factory, and a big office building. The art conveys equally well the quiet, cozy scene that evening when the man makes his final delivery—to his own home, where his wife and baby and the children seen earlier happily welcome Papa and their noodle dinner. Two historical photos of Japanese demae (delivery men) bookend the story; the first one alerting readers—and the second reminding them—that the amazing balancing acts illustrated here aren’t the least bit exaggerated. An illustration of an exhausted but smiling Papa soaking in the family’s deep tub may send readers dipping back into this talented duo’s earlier book.

From the "September/October 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.