MOTHER STEALS A BICYCLE

An Indian mother’s tales of her mischievous rural childhood
are almost too magical to believe.

In the intricate world woven by an 11-and-½-year-old child’s
mother, bicycles pedal themselves, shadows become friendly ghosts, hyenas haunt
the fields, and insects predict the weather. Amma’s descriptions of her exploits
in the southern Indian village where she grew up walk a thin line between
fact and fiction, and the narrator is never quite sure what is truth and what
is exaggeration. Only one thing is certain: Whether she is plucking feathers
off of a live peacock or throwing herself into a river before she knows how to
properly swim, Amma’s courage and curiosity are the driving forces behind all
of her fantastical adventures. By the end, the narrator wishes that they,
too, lived in a place as interesting as Amma’s village. The book is written as
a dialogue between a mother and child, and its conversational tone makes it
suitable for both read-alouds and independent reading. The narrator’s voice is
charming, as are the pen-and-ink illustrations and the cleverly designed text,
which uses various fonts to emphasize key words in the narrative. Amma’s fearless
and empowered personality is particularly refreshing to read, as is
the book’s portrayal of rural India as a fascinating place bursting with
possibility instead of an impoverished backwater in need of Western
intervention.