Genies Don't Ride Bicycles

The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids #8

by Marcia Thornton Jones, Marcia Thornton Jones, John Steven Gurney (Illustrations)

When the Bailey school kids find an old bottle and toss it into the junkyard, a wacky genie named Eugene suddenly rides into town on a purple bicycle. Original.

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, Juvenile, Mystery

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Marcia Thornton Jones has published 131 books for children with sales totaling more than 43 million copies world-wide. Her works include CHAMP (mid-grade novel), RATFINK (mid-grade novel), GODZILLA ATE MY HOMEWORK (chapter book), THE TALE OF JACK FROST (picture book) and LEPRECHAUN ON THE LOOSE (picture book). She is the co-author of seven popular series including The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids, Keyholders, Ghostville Elementary, The Bailey School Kids Jr. Chapter Books, Triplet Trouble, Bailey City Monsters, and The Barkley School for Dogs.

Marcia has been listed as a top 100 author by the Educational Paperback Association and selected for the Children’s Top 100 Books list by the National Education Association, International Reading Associations Children’s Choice Award. Marcia's books have received many honors and have appeared on on the Publisher's Weekly Bestsellers lists,

Marcia, a full time writer living in Lexington, Kentucky enjoys presenting at schools and conferences. As a veteran teacher with more than 20 years of experience, she easily relates the importance of writing to students of all ages.

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick nostalgic trip down memory lane with the Bailey School kids for a little lunch time read. Does this still count towards my accelerated reader points? lol

[Becca]

I appreciate that even though this is a children's book we didn't shy away from the true nature of genie wishes and how they don't always go as planned. Could these children have been monkey's pawed harder? Probably, but it is a book for 3rd graders so

[Ava P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Genies Don't Ride Bicycles four friends Liza, Eddie, Melody and Howie are in a yard that is a mess. They find a bottle and open it to find a very smelly scent. After they open the bottle a strange man with a bald head and a gold vest with bright orange pants appeared. He was riding a purple bicycle. Melody said " I wish this yard was clean"(Dadey ,5) and the next day it was clean. The kids made more wishes that kept coming true. All of them believed that this man was a genie but Eddie wouldn't believe it. Soon all of the kids wishes were creating chaos. It was up to Melody who had one last wish left to fix everything. Melody saved everyone and finally Eddie believed this man was a genie.




I would recommend this book to readers with a desire for magic and mystery.

[Malia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it because every time the kids said they wished something it came true!

[Samantha Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this one

[Nella ☾ of Bookland · Rating 3 out of 5]

The meanest thing Eddie said in this book:

“Eddie laughed. “There’s no such thing as a genie. After all, if I could do magic, I’d be better-looking than him.”

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melody, Eddie, Liza and Howie were hanging out by their favorite tree and noticed a bottle sticking out of it that's never been there before. They open it thinking that maybe there is a message inside; instead, all they find is a horrible smell. Not too long after they opened the bottle, they ran into a strange man who was dressed funny. They noticed that ever since they met him, every time they said "I wish..." their wishes would come true. Was this just a coincidence? Or was he a real Genie? And if he was a real Genie, was having wishes come true really a good thing?

This series is great for elementary students and the illustrations are excellent.

[paige turner ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this one is my favourite out of all the ones I've read so far.

When any story involves a genie and making wishes, you will always hear, "be careful what you wish for." I think I liked that some of their wishes turned out okay, and some of them didn't.
In the end though, it seems like everyone will always wish for things to be back to how it was before the wishes were made.

But my favourite part, was the note saying that they have the power within to make wishes come true. and they started cleaning up the mess in that yard.

this one made me really happy.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing on with my reading of all the Bailey School Kids books. This was one of the better adventures, and definitely not one that I had read as a child. The kids think the nice eccentric who moved in next door to the school is a genie, and all signs point to maybe, definitely, YES! Of course, these adventures are always inconclusive, but I'm pretty sure that Eugene was the real deal. It was fun to see how the wishes worked, and I enjoyed that they weren't always as idyllic as the wishers would have wanted!

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new neighbour to the Bailey School Kids seems connected to all the sudden wishes coming true, but when things start to go wrong, the third graders believe they may be dealing with a genuine genie! Dadey will have young readers clamouring for more with this charming entry!

[Stephanie Baldwin-Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to read books by this author as a kid, and now my 3rd grade son and I have started reading them together. The book was cute and a good way to spend our evenings together.

[Victoria Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good.

[Sarah Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book of Bailey's elementary school series ..
And guys its seriously the borin book i have ever read...
No recommendations 🙄😌

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the "be careful what you wish for" plot in this one!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute holiday story about the consequences of getting everything that you want.

[Josh Epp · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a fun one! I remember really liking this one when I was a kid. The genie was very entertaining!

[paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

little nostalgia trip🫶🏼

[Stephanie ((Strazzybooks)) · Rating 4 out of 5]

if “be careful what you wish for” were a book

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do Genies exist? I'm sure we all wish they did at sometime. This is the story about four kids that find a bottle and open it. The smell is awful and they throw the bottle in this empty yard.

They are walking away and one of the girls wishes the place was as clean as all the other houses and had lights for Christmas. The wishes the kids ask for are some that every kid would love but then realize how difficult it is to still do things when they are up all night, eating nothing but junk etc.


all 3 books received 4 stars

Now I am still reading Book Lust and would like to finish it soon. Maybe I just need to take some time off from work and do nothing but read.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kids from Bailey School find a bottle in a tree. When they open it a strong odor comes out. The kids wish that the yard next to school would get cleaned up. The next morning it's clean. A man that looks like a genie has moved in and cleaned it up. All of the students wishes start coming true. They are convinced the man is a genie. Then, things start to go wrong. Melting snow floods the city and cancels a concert, kids are sick, etc. They decide to wish everything back to normal. The next morning everything has returned to normal and the "genie" is gone.

[J.B. Mathias · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bailey school kids meets archetype monkey paw story. Wishes backfiring and being undone, the end.

[BookeryBliss · Rating 4 out of 5]

The collection of "The adventures of the Bailey School Kids" stories are among my all-time favorite children's books. Witty, mischievous and fun, these short and silly books continue to bring giggles to the young and old. Just as I have enjoyed them as a kid, my own children also love them today. I even catch myself re-reading them (alone) from time to time. What can I say? I guess I'll always be a BSK kid at heart.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bailey School Kids is a best-selling children's book series by Marcia Thornton Jones and Debbie Dadey. Its main characters are a group of four children (Eddie, Howie, Liza, Melody) who suspect some persons in the stories are popular folk lore or fairy tale characters. They are appealing because they mix a familiar story in with this group of kids. Mid-grammar school

[Molly]

A silly series that creates more questions than it answers. It's great for formulating theories as well as predictions. The class dynamics should be very familiar to those of the Magic School Bus generation.

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Eddie finds a bottle in a tree he opens it and a genie comes out. The next 12 wishes that the 4 kids make think of will come true. However the first 11 wishes turn out to be a disaster. Can the last wish fix everything? L.A.

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part was when all of the kids wishes were coming true. The worst part was when bailey city was all messed up. The favorite character was all of the bailey school kids. There was no wirst character. Auryn 10 years old, 2013

[Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book because Genies granted them three wishes each and at the very end the four kids turned into Genies.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

great when ur little

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with Carter, it was a quick read.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I realy liked this book.My favorite character in this series is Eddie,because he causes a lot of funny trouble!It took me 10 seconds to read this book!