Builda the Re-Bicycler

Tales of Midlandia

by Michael Scotto

When the Midlandia dump overflows, Builda the bicycle factory owner springs into action. Her plan to reduce, reuse, and recycle just might clean up the town!

30 pages, Unknown Binding

First published December 31, 2009

About the author

Michael Scotto has worked as a filmmaker, a saxophone player and an engineer's assistant, but his true passion has always been writing. He is the author of the "The Tales of Midlandia" picture book series, as well as the middle-grade novels, "Latasha and the Little Red Tornado," "Latasha and the Kidd on Keys," and "Postcards from Pismo." When not writing, he enjoys cooking and photography.

In 2011, Scotto was honored as one of the "Pittsburgh 40 Under 40," which recognizes difference makers in the Western Pennsylvania region. He currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife.

Reviews

[Michael Scotto]

Obviously, you should consider the source for this review, seeing as I wrote the book as well.

Rather than review, I'll tell you about the four elements that co-mingled in just the right way, thus inspiring me to write this story.

1) A concept. I've always been interested in the idea of the "butterfly effect." As I got ready to write what became this book, I found myself wanting to explore how one well-placed choice or action can ripple across a community.

2) An image. A few weeks before I started this story, I had this dream in which a tangled tower of discarded objects threatened to topple upon me. (Anyone who has seen my work desk knows that this is a very real possibility.)

3) A sentence. The opening sentence of "Builda" was one I'd written at least a year before the book proper: "The town of Midlandia was bicycle-crazy!" I loved the way that sentence sounded aloud, but I had no idea what story it could lead off. Until:

4) A word. The day before I started draft one, a single word popped into my head: "re-bicycling." I didn't know what it meant, exactly, but when that word careened off that opening sentence, and the sentence pinwheeled into that image, and the image brushed shoulders with the concept...Builda the Re-Bicycler was born.

And for the record, the spread that shows the towering bike pile? One of my absolute favorite in the series. The artists' use of color, the fine detail -- the picture is a technical wonder and also quite moving.

[Vincent]

While I realize my brother wrote this one, and my opinion may seem skewed, also realize what a profound impact this has had on my young students (I teach elementary science). My students are old enough to know by now that recycling is a buzz word and that it is something we're supposed to do, but many of them had no concept of the situation when it comes to land fills and dumps. Even at 5th grade, when I read this book on Earth day, students still respond with misconceptions about recycling that have finally been cleared up by the wonderful book. It's also a great tool for expansion on the scientific process, such as identifying a problem, designing a process for improving the conditions, and then sharing it with others that can apply it to other problems. This is by far my favorite book by the author.

[LeAnn]

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads. Who better to critique this book than my 3-year-old and 7-year-old nephews? They both really enjoyed this book. The 3-year-old sat quietly and listened, which is an amazing fete. He also asked if he could read it by himself afterwards. The 7-year-old said he liked the book a lot. The illustrations are great; very colorful and tell the story along with the words. The message about recycling is clear for kids (and adults) of all ages. It's a cute book that is educational and fun at the same time.

[Rebecca]

What a great way to teach kids about recycling. Builda is repairing bicycles and goes to the dump and gets parts to fix the bikes with. She reduces waste and starts recycling in the town. Very cute story.