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Ben
Ben Rides On
Ben loves his new bike. In fact, he loves it so much he even likes riding to school (especially if he can take the long way around)! That is, until an encounter with the local bully, Adrian Underbite, leaves Ben bike-less. When Ben discovers where his bike actually is, the reader is in for a dramatic, and literal, cliffhanger.
Will Ben ever be able to get his bike back?
Find out in this hilarious and tender tale by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Matt Davies.
A Neal Porter Book
Will Ben ever be able to get his bike back?
Find out in this hilarious and tender tale by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Matt Davies.
A Neal Porter Book
32 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
May 17, 2013
This book has many themes - bullies, compassion, and the joy of a kid on a bike. How do we treat others when given the opportunity for revenge? This book poses that question in the most hilarious and sensitive of ways. There are pages in this book that just must be experienced. Wow!
October 16, 2013
It's very satisfying to read a picture book starring third graders, since most recent releases are trending toward preschool characters and issues. This strikes a strong note about the age- bike adventures, bullying, making decisions of conscience, and facing responsibility. That all sounds awfully heavy handed, but the text and images are energetic, humorous, and thoroughly appealing without the slightest bit of patronizing or preaching.
May 19, 2017
Going to school isn't as unpleasant as it once was now that third grader Ben has a great bicycle. He can take the scenic route to get there, but once he arrives, Adrian Underbite, "the world's largest third-grader" (unpaged), takes the bike from him. Furious, Ben fumes and plots revenge. On his way home, though, he finds Adrian in a bad spot but decides to do the right thing and help him. He's shocked when Adrian takes off with the bike once again after he's been rescued. Is there no justice in the world? Ah, but the twist at the end makes it all worthwhile. This is a great book to prompt discussions on all sorts of topics, including standing up for yourself, bullying, and acts of kindness. I enjoyed the cartoon-like illustrations with all of Ben's pathways and facial expressions just as much as the text.
I really enjoyed this picture book and liked having it as part of a text collection on bullying. Apparently, so did one of my students since it disappeared. I searched for it for several months before deciding to buy it again and reread it. Its fresh take on bullying is just as delightful as it was the first time I read it, making it well worth the cost of a second purchase.
I really enjoyed this picture book and liked having it as part of a text collection on bullying. Apparently, so did one of my students since it disappeared. I searched for it for several months before deciding to buy it again and reread it. Its fresh take on bullying is just as delightful as it was the first time I read it, making it well worth the cost of a second purchase.
June 13, 2013
I love the illustrations in this story! When the text says: "With his gleaming new machine he could take the long way" the illustration shows a sign pointing to "Watson Elementary School", and Ben riding the opposite direction. And there is a wonderful image of a grinning Ben who has just discovered his bully in a “significant spot of trouble”. The vocabulary is excellent (gleaming, devastated, peculiar, perilously), the story is very funny, and the moral is simple and understated. A great choice for older preschool and kindergarten story times.
September 2, 2013
The cartoonist as great children's book author is not a given. Consider the sad case of Berkeley Breathed, for example. He achieved levels of unattainable brilliance when he penned Bloom County but his picture books have never managed to hit the same emotional beats, no matter how hard they try. Don't get me wrong. Some cartoonists, like Stephan Pastis or the occasional New Yorker cartoonist, like Harry Bliss, excel in pleasing their child readers. All I'm saying is that when a Pulitzer Prize winner for editorial cartooning like Matt Davies comes along, you don't necessarily know what you're gonna get. All the more reason to be thrilled when the man gets it right. And by "it" I mean the picture book genre. Perfectly paced, expertly drawn, with enough humor and inventiveness to separate it from the pack, what we have here is a shining example of how to do a picture book correctly. Let the cartoonists have their day. Some of them know what they're doing.
Ben is your average joe. No flash. No panache. He just goes about his day. His one possession that pleases him more than any other is his fantastic bicycle. Ben rides it hither and thither on his way to school, only to have it stolen outright by nasty Adrian Underbite. Ben's feeling pretty low at this point, up until he hears a strange noise after school. As fate will have it, Adrian has been thrown by the now busted bike and is hanging from a cliff. Ben is perfectly content to let his enemy meet his just desserts but something stops him. He rescues his foe, and the result . . . well, it's not what he expects, let's just say that.
Bully books. If upon reading these two words you've just suppressed an inward groan, I hear you. It sounds bad but right now we're in the midst of a bullying craze. Bullies are hotter than ever, so any time you encounter one in a book for kids you naturally have to assume that there will be some kind of "don't bully" moral imparted to the reader. What we sometimes forget is that bullies are, and have always been, perfect children's book villains. From Bugs Meaney to Miss Trunchbull to Malfoy, bullies aren't fad baddies. What's nice about Ben Rides On is that it harkens back to good old-fashioned brainless goons, while also offering some possible redemption on the side. Adrian Underbite is everything his name suggests and he's a classic bully type: Physically intimidating and mean. Yet he's redeemed in the end after it appears that he has returned to his old ways. Bullies in picture books don't tend to get a lot of redemption. Redemption in picture book is rare in any case. There are moments of grace but considering how short your average picture book is (32 pages is the average) there's not a lot of room there for character development, a climax, a change of heart, and forgiveness. Yet Matt Davies shows here how clearly it can be done.
There are certain types of picture books that appeal to me upon contact, so to speak. They have a look or a style to them that pleases. What was it about Ben Rides On that first attracted me? Maybe it was the use of line. That frantic pen and ink that's so cross-hatched and irregular that your eye is instantly drawn to it. When seated on his bike, Ben's wheels never touch the ground (Adrian's do). When he's grounded the book takes time to concentrate on other details. Things like the repeating thundercloud motif that appears over anyone's head when they're upset (it's the same as the image on Adrian's shirt too: discuss). Or cool visual pieces, like the solitary, dejected Ben walking down a school hallway, or the oversized underside of his shoe as he runs to a mysterious sound. I love how the angles and shots (for lack of a better word) of the characters move about constantly. It's the kind of drawing that rookie illustrators forget to do when they first make their books. The best image in the book, bar none, is the moment when Ben looks down upon his now helpless opponent and you get a kind of Adrian-eye-view of the face distorted by an evil grin. Reads the accompanying text, " 'How extraordinarily terrible,' Ben thought to himself." There's a nice juxtaposition here between what Ben is saying and what he means. Terrible, is clearly the outcome Ben would have most wished upon Adrian. Terrible, is a wonderful thing.
This is not to say that there aren't some choices that made me scratch my head in confusion. The final shot in the book, for example, is a touch baffling. Not to spoil anything for you (if picture book spoilers are the bane of your existence, you may perhaps wish to do other things with your life) but the last shot of the book is of Ben's bike, now perfectly repaired by Adrian, down to the band-aid on the bike seat. It's a nice image, but for some reason that I still can't quite figure out the image of the bike appears within a circle. It looks as though you're viewing the bike through a telescope of some sort. I searched through the book to see if Ben owned such an object, but couldn't find any evidence of it. Then I realized that the way the book has set this shot up, the only way a person could see a bike like this would be if they were across the street from Ben's house looking back. Maybe through a peephole in a door? Are we to assume that Adrian is now hiding and waiting for Ben to find the bike? It's possible that this is meant to invoke old Warner Brothers cartoons with the circle closing in on the action, but there weren't really any particularly cartoonish elements before now (except perhaps the Wile E. Coyote-like dangling off a cliff of Adrian). It's a puzzle.
A comic strip is like a picture book shortened within an inch of its life. It demands that the writer know how to synthesize a story into only three panels. An editorial cartoon, by contrast, is an even shorter affair, needing to present all the pertinent information in a single point. You would think then that editorial cartoonists would then be at a distinct disadvantage to their funny pages friends when they start writing picture books, but we know that is not the case. Here's a fun fact: One of the most celebrated children's picture book illustrators out there started his life as a political cartoonist. If this were a game of Jeopardy, now would be the time for you to say, "Who is David Small?" and you would be correct. Now Matt Davies joins his ranks and though it's his first time at bat, he's knocked it out of the park. A step above the generally bully fare found these days, here's a book with its heart in the right place, that could actually enthrall and engage its listeners. Boo-yah.
For ages 4-8.
Ben is your average joe. No flash. No panache. He just goes about his day. His one possession that pleases him more than any other is his fantastic bicycle. Ben rides it hither and thither on his way to school, only to have it stolen outright by nasty Adrian Underbite. Ben's feeling pretty low at this point, up until he hears a strange noise after school. As fate will have it, Adrian has been thrown by the now busted bike and is hanging from a cliff. Ben is perfectly content to let his enemy meet his just desserts but something stops him. He rescues his foe, and the result . . . well, it's not what he expects, let's just say that.
Bully books. If upon reading these two words you've just suppressed an inward groan, I hear you. It sounds bad but right now we're in the midst of a bullying craze. Bullies are hotter than ever, so any time you encounter one in a book for kids you naturally have to assume that there will be some kind of "don't bully" moral imparted to the reader. What we sometimes forget is that bullies are, and have always been, perfect children's book villains. From Bugs Meaney to Miss Trunchbull to Malfoy, bullies aren't fad baddies. What's nice about Ben Rides On is that it harkens back to good old-fashioned brainless goons, while also offering some possible redemption on the side. Adrian Underbite is everything his name suggests and he's a classic bully type: Physically intimidating and mean. Yet he's redeemed in the end after it appears that he has returned to his old ways. Bullies in picture books don't tend to get a lot of redemption. Redemption in picture book is rare in any case. There are moments of grace but considering how short your average picture book is (32 pages is the average) there's not a lot of room there for character development, a climax, a change of heart, and forgiveness. Yet Matt Davies shows here how clearly it can be done.
There are certain types of picture books that appeal to me upon contact, so to speak. They have a look or a style to them that pleases. What was it about Ben Rides On that first attracted me? Maybe it was the use of line. That frantic pen and ink that's so cross-hatched and irregular that your eye is instantly drawn to it. When seated on his bike, Ben's wheels never touch the ground (Adrian's do). When he's grounded the book takes time to concentrate on other details. Things like the repeating thundercloud motif that appears over anyone's head when they're upset (it's the same as the image on Adrian's shirt too: discuss). Or cool visual pieces, like the solitary, dejected Ben walking down a school hallway, or the oversized underside of his shoe as he runs to a mysterious sound. I love how the angles and shots (for lack of a better word) of the characters move about constantly. It's the kind of drawing that rookie illustrators forget to do when they first make their books. The best image in the book, bar none, is the moment when Ben looks down upon his now helpless opponent and you get a kind of Adrian-eye-view of the face distorted by an evil grin. Reads the accompanying text, " 'How extraordinarily terrible,' Ben thought to himself." There's a nice juxtaposition here between what Ben is saying and what he means. Terrible, is clearly the outcome Ben would have most wished upon Adrian. Terrible, is a wonderful thing.
This is not to say that there aren't some choices that made me scratch my head in confusion. The final shot in the book, for example, is a touch baffling. Not to spoil anything for you (if picture book spoilers are the bane of your existence, you may perhaps wish to do other things with your life) but the last shot of the book is of Ben's bike, now perfectly repaired by Adrian, down to the band-aid on the bike seat. It's a nice image, but for some reason that I still can't quite figure out the image of the bike appears within a circle. It looks as though you're viewing the bike through a telescope of some sort. I searched through the book to see if Ben owned such an object, but couldn't find any evidence of it. Then I realized that the way the book has set this shot up, the only way a person could see a bike like this would be if they were across the street from Ben's house looking back. Maybe through a peephole in a door? Are we to assume that Adrian is now hiding and waiting for Ben to find the bike? It's possible that this is meant to invoke old Warner Brothers cartoons with the circle closing in on the action, but there weren't really any particularly cartoonish elements before now (except perhaps the Wile E. Coyote-like dangling off a cliff of Adrian). It's a puzzle.
A comic strip is like a picture book shortened within an inch of its life. It demands that the writer know how to synthesize a story into only three panels. An editorial cartoon, by contrast, is an even shorter affair, needing to present all the pertinent information in a single point. You would think then that editorial cartoonists would then be at a distinct disadvantage to their funny pages friends when they start writing picture books, but we know that is not the case. Here's a fun fact: One of the most celebrated children's picture book illustrators out there started his life as a political cartoonist. If this were a game of Jeopardy, now would be the time for you to say, "Who is David Small?" and you would be correct. Now Matt Davies joins his ranks and though it's his first time at bat, he's knocked it out of the park. A step above the generally bully fare found these days, here's a book with its heart in the right place, that could actually enthrall and engage its listeners. Boo-yah.
For ages 4-8.
July 26, 2017
Topics addressed include bullying and kindness. I liked the vocabulary. Students can use context clues including the illustrations to determine meanings of unknown words.
August 6, 2013
This is a good story that helps children see how bullies can change and need help. The story is fun to read aloud and the illustrations complement the story nicely.
I like that Ben is able to 'turn the other cheek,' even though he wants to laugh at the bully's misfortune. The dramatic turnaround by the bully isn't necessarily all that realistic, but still makes for a heartwarming tale. We really enjoyed reading this book together.
I like that Ben is able to 'turn the other cheek,' even though he wants to laugh at the bully's misfortune. The dramatic turnaround by the bully isn't necessarily all that realistic, but still makes for a heartwarming tale. We really enjoyed reading this book together.
February 28, 2020
Read for Bullying day or week or whatever it is with PreK and Kindergarten. It was actually really good! My lower Ks didn't seem to get much out of it but some higher PreKs did? Weird. Went over Daycare's heads a bit.
June 23, 2013
A boy, his bike, and a bully. A fun, raucous ride.
June 24, 2013
Great vocabulary use and a great message with unique illustrations
July 30, 2013
Joy is a boy and his new bike, but when the biggest baddest third grader separates the two, the real story begins. Great example of two of lessons in life--- forgiveness and atonement.
August 5, 2013
Ben loves his bike but mean bully Adrian steals it. Decent, not spectacular.
February 28, 2020
Matt Davies has created an excellent character in Ben Lukin, a preteen rogue who has a new bike to ride to school, using the longest route, since school, naturally, sucks and a big time third grade lugnuts named Adrian just flattened Ben's shnoz and made off cackling with the bike. Ben wants payback. But just as he's walking in the wooded area in search of the behemoth who stole his bike, he finds him hanging onto a tree limb over a rocky gorge, and the bike a twisted wreck. Ben .... could...leave him hanging....but then something based on doing what's right, something like forgiveness, a power greater than any need for revenge, causes Ben to rise to the occasion and save his enemy/friend. But is Ben's effort wasted time...or...will something more miraculous emerge? A great book for kids to remember the lessons we learned from HeMan and The Ninja Turtles at their ages, that it's better to forgive than to avenge. Great lesson for greater kid heroes...like you!
Four stars
Ben ROCKS ON!!!
Four stars
Ben ROCKS ON!!!
January 26, 2018
I like this book but at the same time I don’t like this book. Ben is in 3rd grade and his most precious possession is his bike. Adrian is the class bully and steals Ben’s bike. But Adrian is not a good rider and gets in a spot of trouble. Ben, while he may not want to, helps Adrian out, upon which time Adrian steals the bike again. The next morning Ben find it almost completely repaired. The story is real. It realistically depicts how a kid in Ben’s situation would feel. That I like. I just hate that he got kicked while he was down, and then kicked again.
July 26, 2020
This is a gem of a book that I found at the library (and I read dozens a week). From the cover and inside illustrations to the words and kindness expressed in the story - I just loved this book! I could read this one over and over! ❤️. This book is clever, creative and fun with a wonderful message.
January 15, 2021
This was one of the selections for our "all ages" story-time group and it generated a really great discussion. Themes of redemption, our desire for revenge, repentance, salvation, compassion and more. A really great story that makes you contemplate what may happen after the book ends.
December 11, 2016
Very 21st century. Very school-aged boy. Very hip. And very good. But gosh darn it there's got to be a way to make it cool to wear a helmet!
October 24, 2017
Good read aloud for talking to kids about bullying and forgiveness.
September 4, 2018
2.5 stars
Though this book has a good message at the end, I thought the writing was a bit peculiar. The illustrations are a bit odd as well. It's not a bad book by any means, but just not our taste.
Though this book has a good message at the end, I thought the writing was a bit peculiar. The illustrations are a bit odd as well. It's not a bad book by any means, but just not our taste.
February 15, 2019
Cute story about being the bigger person around bullies!
May 29, 2019
I used this lesson for 2nd Grade Reading Groups. Standard: Review Setting, Characters, Plot, Conflict, Theme - 5 days of literature elements
January 20, 2023
A good book about bullying and treating people how you want to be treated. Also a good lesson on being nice to somebody even if they aren't always nice to you.
January 11, 2017
I think this is a great book for mindset discussions and read-alouds as it allows for students to be able to discuss what they would do in the same/similar situations. Great book.
February 24, 2016
***Update: Just added another star to this one, because I read it to an entire class of kindergarteners today (not that group I was originally going to use this one with) and they LOVED it! I mean standing on chairs with two thumbs up in the air LOVED it! I was not expecting them to get so into the story! I did stop at times and talk to them about predictions and "can you believe it?!" etc, but WOW! The reaction to this one blew me out of the water! And the great conversation and things coming out of the mouths of 5/6 year olds because of this book was just great! Definitely impressed!
This book is definitely one I can and will use with my students. They can make predictions, they can identify how they would feel and what they would do, they can identify how characters are feeling, and what they can do, vs. what they should do. Even at the end of the story, students can discuss what they would do at that point. Definitely one that allows for the opportunity of writing what would happen on the next page, in the sequel, after the story, etc. (however you wanted to word it/frame it.) I agree with a previous reviewer that I love that the main character isn't a preschooler or kindergartener- here is a third grader! The beginning is whimsical and silly (watching the characters long trip to school) but then the main idea is something kids will totally be able to relate to (maybe not someone stealing their bike or having to rescue their greatest enemy, but the concept of a mean kid- everyone knows someone like that!)
This book is definitely one I can and will use with my students. They can make predictions, they can identify how they would feel and what they would do, they can identify how characters are feeling, and what they can do, vs. what they should do. Even at the end of the story, students can discuss what they would do at that point. Definitely one that allows for the opportunity of writing what would happen on the next page, in the sequel, after the story, etc. (however you wanted to word it/frame it.) I agree with a previous reviewer that I love that the main character isn't a preschooler or kindergartener- here is a third grader! The beginning is whimsical and silly (watching the characters long trip to school) but then the main idea is something kids will totally be able to relate to (maybe not someone stealing their bike or having to rescue their greatest enemy, but the concept of a mean kid- everyone knows someone like that!)
July 19, 2014
I so love the tongue in cheek of this book. The illustrations, the humor is so fun!
Ben loves his new bike. It's the bike of his dreams. Now he loves to take the long, long, long way to school just to get more riding time in. However, a very oversized 3rd grade bully steals his bike and Ben is devastated. On the long walk home Ben hears a rather peculiar sound and discovers that the class bully has ridden Ben's bike over a cliff, destroying the bike and stranding the bully. Ben grabs the very damaged bike and is walking home when he stops. Being the better person he slips off his hoodie and helps the bully back onto firm ground. Unbelievably the bully lunges for the bike and takes off again. Dejected once again, Ben heads home.
In the morning Ben looks out his window and sees an almost perfectly repaired bike leaning against the front gate.
Ben loves his new bike. It's the bike of his dreams. Now he loves to take the long, long, long way to school just to get more riding time in. However, a very oversized 3rd grade bully steals his bike and Ben is devastated. On the long walk home Ben hears a rather peculiar sound and discovers that the class bully has ridden Ben's bike over a cliff, destroying the bike and stranding the bully. Ben grabs the very damaged bike and is walking home when he stops. Being the better person he slips off his hoodie and helps the bully back onto firm ground. Unbelievably the bully lunges for the bike and takes off again. Dejected once again, Ben heads home.
In the morning Ben looks out his window and sees an almost perfectly repaired bike leaning against the front gate.
October 12, 2014
Call them bullies. Call them 'children who present a challenge to desired social climate.' Whatever you call them, there are a lot of books--at both the picture and chapter level--about them. Ben Rides On is another, and it handles the conflict in typical fashion. The child making bad decisions takes something from the main character, in this case a bike, and only once the MC saves the thief's life does he return the now damaged property. There's a little growth on each side, we anticipate they will be nicer to each other in the future or at least on amicable terms, etc.
In all, it didn't surprise me, and I suppose I would like to see new takes on this issue. For the older grades, I especially adore the Shredderman Series. I haven't found one recently that I really like for elementary, though.
In all, it didn't surprise me, and I suppose I would like to see new takes on this issue. For the older grades, I especially adore the Shredderman Series. I haven't found one recently that I really like for elementary, though.
September 26, 2013
Ben is in love with his new bike. Traveling the LONG way to school allows him to have more time riding and also helps him avoid Adrian Underbite, the school bully. Adrian lives up to his reputation and steals Ben’s new bike, leaving Ben devastated and wanting to seek revenge. However when the opportunity to for retaliation presents itself Ben turns the other cheek and extends a hand (actually a sweater) to his tormentor.
Bulling was a big problem in my daughter’s school and was a contributing factor in our decision to homeschool. I enjoy books like this that show bullies as regular kids who are often scared and in need of help, despite their “tough guy” persona. The story did come across as a bit farfetched but I think it would make for a good read-aloud and class discussion book.
Bulling was a big problem in my daughter’s school and was a contributing factor in our decision to homeschool. I enjoy books like this that show bullies as regular kids who are often scared and in need of help, despite their “tough guy” persona. The story did come across as a bit farfetched but I think it would make for a good read-aloud and class discussion book.
August 15, 2014
My 4 yr old had a passionate response to this book but not in a positive way. He told me he hated the book and to never ,ever read it again. Ooooookay,then. So, I read it to myself. It's a simple story about a bully taking a kids bike with a nice but unrealistic ending. But hey...the unrealistic ending might give kids the mention to believe that there's good in everyone and everything will work out ok when someone does a mean thing.
I tried to pinpoint what my kid hated so much about the book and I think it's the illustrations. My teenager described the illustration of the main character as "creepy" and added, "He looks like a 30 year old stoner."
And the bully reminds me of John Goodman, so that's kinda sad.
I tried to pinpoint what my kid hated so much about the book and I think it's the illustrations. My teenager described the illustration of the main character as "creepy" and added, "He looks like a 30 year old stoner."
And the bully reminds me of John Goodman, so that's kinda sad.
Read
August 30, 2015Ben loves his new bike. In fact, he loves it so much he even likes riding to school (especially if he can take the long way around) That is, until an encounter with the local bully, Adrian Underbite, leaves Ben bike-less. When Ben discovers where his bike actually is, the reader is in for a dramatic, and literal, cliffhanger. Will Ben "ever" be able to get his bike back? Find out in this hilarious and tender tale by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Matt Davies.
Subjects
Bicycles -- Juvenile fiction.
Bullying -- Juvenile fiction
Theft -- Juvenile fiction
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction
Subjects
Bicycles -- Juvenile fiction.
Bullying -- Juvenile fiction
Theft -- Juvenile fiction
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction
September 9, 2014
Ben has a brand new bicycle that he is very excited about. He rides it to school and it immediately gets stolen by the school bully. After school is out for the day, Ben starts walking home. He sees his bike all bent up and damaged. He also sees the bully hanging from a tree about to fall from a cliff. He starts to go home with his broken bike, but turns around to help the bully. When the bully arrives to safety, he grabs the bike and takes off! Ben can't believe it! The next morning, he finds a surprise--his bike almost perfectly fixed at his front gate.
Good for preschool or older kid storytimes.
Good for preschool or older kid storytimes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews