SEL Read Aloud: Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka

Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle Book Cover

Summary

This short picture book is written in a style accessible to readers who might also be learning to ride a bicycle for the first time. In the story, a little girl works with her grandfather to learn to ride a bike. Their process spans her becoming interested to taking ownership to trying and failing to experiencing success — with plenty of small details and in-between steps reminding experienced readers and riders of all that might be involved from beginning to end.

Discussion Questions

How many steps do you think there are to learning to ride a bicycle? Did you learn of any new possible steps in this book?
At the beginning, the little girl saw many different people riding bikes. How do you think their learning journeys may have been similar and different than hers?
How many times did the little girl fall down? Do you think it was worth that trouble? Would it still have been worth it if required her falling one more time?
If you’ve learned to ride a bike, do you really think you’ll always remember how? If so, why do you think that is?
What kinds of skills do we hold on to even if we don’t use them a lot? What skills do we need to practice a lot to maintain?