The Running Machine: The Invention of the Very First Bicycle

Gr 1-4–With captivating, spread-length illustrations, Negley traces the invention of an early bicycle by German forester Kenneth Drais, in 1816. Pictured as a boyish-looking white man, Drais loved and enjoyed riding horses. Artistic use of mixed-media collage offers scenes of beauty as when Drais rides his horse through a sun-dappled forest. In 1815, an ash cloud from a volcanic eruption creates widespread climate change and famine around the world. Menacing ash clouds, in shades of blue, brown, and black, dwarf the people, horses, and buildings below. Observing the vulnerability of horses, Drais wonders if a human-powered machine could offer a better alternative. Though his first invention proved too heavy, he persevered and created an early version of the bicycle, a velocipede nicknamed the “dandy horse.” As “the year without summer” came to an end, Drais’s invention offered renewed hope for the future. A one-page appendix adds information about Kenneth Drais’s life and accomplishments. For additional context and information, pair with Sarah Nelson’s Birth of the Bicycle or Vivien Kirkfield’s From Here to There.