Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle

By Chris Raschka

(Schwartz & Wade; 32 pages; $16.99; ages 4-8)

Sometime between 4 and 8, kids trade in trikes for bikes. A father helps his daughter with the transition in this inviting and inspiring how-to that begins, "Want to learn to ride a bicycle? First you need to find the perfect bike for you." Happy watercolors by a two-time Caldecott Medalist seamlessly connect step-by-step instructions about training wheels, balance, pedaling and those pesky falls. It's all so sweet and simple. Of course, mastery inevitably comes, along with lasting lessons about courage and determination, habits needed to learn many skills throughout life.

On a Beam of Light A Story of Albert Einstein

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By Jennifer Berne; illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky

(Chronicle; 56 pages; $17.99; ages 6-9)

Albert Einstein was no ordinary man. And this is no ordinary picture biography. Sure, it's chronological, repeating some well-known anecdotes, but only those that recall Einstein's development as a scientist and impact on modernity. Tidbits abound: He was late to talk, loved ice cream and didn't wear socks. Light beams, books, numbers and sugar dissolving in tea fascinated him and eventually led to amazing discoveries about motion, magnetism, atoms, gravity, relativity, time and the universe. Wondrous compositions in naive art style capture the ferment of Einstein's mind and the mysteries that drove him. In all, an ingenious portrait of genius.

Becoming Ben Franklin How a Candle-Maker's Son Helped Light the Flame of Liberty

By Russell Freedman

(Holiday; 86 pages; $24.95; ages 10-up)

Benjamin Franklin invented a stove, the lightning rod and bifocal glasses. He also "helped give birth to a new kind of nation." Between the lines, this stellar biography posits that Franklin's greatest invention was Franklin himself. Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman makes his case by generously and gracefully incorporating Franklin's own words into the narrative that follows his rise from poor apprentice in Boston to man of letters, community organizer and scientist in Philadelphia to statesman abroad. Paintings and documents of the colonial era contribute to a complete package that is meticulously researched, artfully written and hard to put down.

Hero on a Bicycle

By Shirley Hughes

(Candlewick; 214 pages; $15.99; ages 10-14)

At age 86, a British author-illustrator, famed for picture books featuring small domestic dramas, turns to a bigger tableau in this, her first novel. It is 1944, and Florence is under Nazi occupation. Thirteen-year-old Paolo longs to join his father, presumably in hiding with the Resistance, but, along with his mother and older sister, Paolo finds himself drawn into action at home. German officers and their local sympathizers, Allied POWs, farmers and Partisans all figure into a story that clearly delineates the good guys from the bad, but not without nuance. Under the Tuscan sun and in the dark of night, war forces impossible life-and-death choices in this page-turner that powerfully juxtaposes daring and danger, loyalty and betrayal, evil and human goodness.

Bella's Rules

By Elissa Haden Guest; illustrated by Abigail Halpin

(Dial; 32 pages; $16.99; ages 3-5)

"Too wild, too rude, and too risky." That's how Bella's parents describe her bad behavior. She steadfastly ignores the house rules and defiantly makes up her own - candy for breakfast, nix to shampoos and no bedtime. In this endearing tale by San Francisco author Elissa Haden Guest, it's Granny to the rescue. She shows up with a lovable puppy in serious need of retraining. Bella is now doing the admonitions. No peeing on the floor or jumping on the counter, she commands. Humorous artwork chronicles course corrections for both Bella and Puppy. And so in the end, consideration and responsibility rule. Well, mostly.

The Favorite Daughter

By Allen Say

(Scholastic; 32 pages; $17.99; ages 4-8)

Caldecott Medalist Allen Say offers both biography and autobiography in this intimate exploration of family life and biracial identity. While staying with him, Say's young daughter explains how kids at school make fun of her Japanese name and blond hair. (Her parents now divorced, her mother is white and her father of Japanese descent.) Say patiently builds Yuriko up with a quick heritage tour of San Francisco - the Japanese Tea Garden and a local sushi restaurant, too. With an assist from two photos of the beautiful, kimono-clad Yuriko, first at 2 and then as a young woman, Say's restrained and realistic watercolors capture lovely cityscapes as well as an inner journey from confusion to pride.

Susan Faust is a librarian at San Francisco's Katherine Delmar Burke School. E-mail: books@sfchronicle.com
http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Roundup-of-children-s-books-4547287.php
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