The Patchwork Bike
Maxine Beneba ClarkeVan Thanh Rudd (Illustrator)

"The words and images in this snapshot story pulse with resourceful ingenuity, joyful exuberance, and layered meanings." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)


When you live in a village at the edge of the no-go desert, you need to make your own fun. That's when you and your brothers get inventive and build a bike from scratch, using everyday items like an old milk pot (maybe Mum is still using it, maybe not) and a used flour sack. You can even make a license plate from bark if you want. The end result is a spectacular bike, perfect for whooping and laughing as you bumpetty bump over sand hills, past your fed-up mum and right through your mud-for-walls home. A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner, this joyous story from Maxine Beneba Clarke, beautifully illustrated by street artist Van Thanh Rudd, is now available as an ebook.