Family Biking: Author and illustrator Alison Farrell comes to Storytime March 10th

Portland author and illustrator Alison Farrell will join us at Bike Shop Storytime this coming Sunday, March 10th.

Our Family Biking column is sponsored by Clever Cycles.

➤ Read past entries here.

And please note: We’ve moved the remaining Storytime events from Mondays to Sundays to attract more little listeners. We’re also shifting from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. We’ll probably keep it going beyond March, but check the BikePortland.org calendar or Kidical Mass PDX website for the latest event info.

Alison will read read and offer signed copies of her amazing book, Cycle City. You might recall we profiled Alison last year.

Here’s more about Cycle City from the publisher:

“When little Etta the Elephant goes to her Aunt Ellen’s house, she takes a journey through bicycle-filled Cycle City, a town filled with bikes of all kinds! At the end of the day, a special surprise awaits Etta–the most amazing bicycle parade imaginable. Detail-rich illustrations in this fun seek-and-find book paint the colors of this unusual town where everyone rides some kind of bike–whether a penny-farthing, a two-wheeled unicycle, or a conference bike, everyone is on wheels! Packed with prompts and lots to see on every page, this is a sweet story for the sharpest of eyes.”

➤ Full Bike Shop Storytime details

Stories will be read in the family-friendly bike shop’s comfy play area (and yes, the bathroom has a changing table!) and if you’d like to learn more about bicycling as a family, stick around for a Q&A session afterwards.

What, you wanted a bike ride, too?! We’ll be biking the 3/4 of a mile along a family-friendly route to Books with Pictures after each hour-long storytime/Q&A. Suitable for even the smallest riders. Come a little early to ask about borrowing a bike for the ride–Clever Cycles has a few bakfietsen and longtail kid-carrying cargo bikes to loan for families who want to join in on the fun.

Thank you to Liz Holladay from Clever Cycles for the awesome illustration and Leslie Hickey of Hoarfrost Press for the graphic lettering in our Bike Shop Storytime illustration.

Thanks for reading! Please tell your storytime-aged friends to join us for these fun events!

Remember, we’re always looking for people to profile. Get in touch if it sounds like fun to you. I’d especially like to feature families of color so please get in touch or ask friends of color who bike with their kids if they’re interested in sharing their stories. And as always, feel free ask questions in the comments below or email me your story ideas and insights at madidotcom [at] gmail [dot] com.

— Madi Carlson, @familyride on Instagram and Twitter

BikePortland needs your support.