Pedal, Balance, Steer: Annie Londonderry, the First Woman to Cycle Around the World

Gr 1-4–In illustrations with a finish that resembles craquelure, a crackled effect like that in ceramics, the story of Annie Londonderry, the first woman to ride a bicycle around the world, unfolds. Her real name was Annie Cohen Kopchovsky; with experience in advertising, she adopted the name Londonderry in exchange for $100 from the Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company, and added a sign to her bike. The adventure began in 1894, when Londonderry, originally from Latvia, heard of the contest that would pay $10,000 upon the completion of the global journey. Two bike lessons later, pedal, balance, steer, she commenced. An author’s note, time line of important historical moments in women’s suffrage, and bibliography will help children who want to know more. The main narrative is a clipped third-person perspective, but speech bubbles convey Londonderry’s own words, sourced in the back. What an industrious person! On the journey, she switched corset for bloomers, a heavy bike for a lightweight men’s frame, and earned money as a speaker; after, she used the money to move her three children to New York where she worked for a newspaper. The scenes have a lovely, old-fashioned sensibility, but the elongated, Giacometti-like forms of the people dashing about in settings all over the world are dynamic and full of fun.