Most of the time if I decide to read a book after thinking I won’t read it, I end up liking it. Usually a lot, too. And that is the case with Ride / Đạp Xe by Bao Phi and illustrator Thi Bui. It turned out to be more fun, interesting and more enjoyably clever than I had imagined.
The overall theme is learning to ride a bike. Of course, that means falls and frustration, but the father and mother of the story keep patient and help their child along. I read it via an online reader so the form of the pages was not what it should have been, but I figured it out. Therefore, I thought it was a mother and father teaching one child how to ride, and having the different look in the illustrations was just a style choice. Turns out, it is a mother and son in one panel, with a father and son in another panel. They seem to be on top of each other, the father/son combo on top and mother/son on the bottom. The image differences (color changes and the look of the background) show not only place, but eventually, you learn a time difference.
The ending is yes, they learn to ride, yes they are proud they kept trying. But there is also a twist at the end that I should have seen coming. But, I was glad that I was not jaded enough to see it as it would have taken away from the pleasure of that surprise. And part of that surprise, that isn’t a spoiler, is that we are seeing the mother and son in what we assume is Vietnam, the father and son is “here” or not “there” at least. The book is written in both English and Vietnamese. There is also a translation to the Vietnamese text.
Back to the illustrations. They are sweet, uniquely colored so they make things soft, but are not lacking in action. You see the parents helping, encouraging and the children experiencing the ups and downs of learning something new. They have movement without actually moving, but also snuggly are there. I found them pleasing to read, seeing how they (like a parent) support the story (child). 
Book is due August 2026, read via an online reader copy.
