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The Magic Bicycle
A verse-story about the extraordinary round-the-world journey of a boy on a bewitched bicycle. Illustrated throughout in full colour throughout.
- GenresChildrens
32 pages, Paperback
First published July 29, 1993
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September 2, 2012
The Magic Bicycle – Brian Patten
Brian Patten's poem The Magic Bicycle tells the tale of a horrible witch that casts a spell on an innocent young boy, Danny Harris. The witch's spell means that Danny is stuck on his bike and can never get off. As a result Danny reluctantly peddles around the globe, visiting new countries and exploring new cultures. After a considerable amount of country visiting by chance Danny bumps in to the witch again, having forgotten her spell she steals the bike from Danny, meaning that she is now stuck on the bike peddling the universe for eternity.
I think that the poem would be most suited to a young reader, from age six upwards. Although the poem is most suited to a young reader I think that Pattern challenges the young reader's cultural and geographical knowledge, with the inclusion of unfamiliar places and people such as the Chunnel, Pyrenees and the Bedouin people. The inclusion of such places and people will undoubtedly provoke further questions with the young reader, therefore I do not think that the poem is suited to independent reading.
Form, rhyme scheme and rhythm are all used effectively to illustrate the narrative and to anchor the poem securely in the genre of childrens poetry. Poetry is perhaps a genre that young readers will not often read, however it can be very enjoyable and because of the conventions it can be easy to navigate. I think that this is true to The Magic Bicycle, through form, rhyme and rhythm new and challenging places and people are presented within a simple style.
The poems dipodic quatrains loosely follow the recognisable AABB rhyme scheme, “witch, ditch”, “bike, tike”. There are a couple of occasions where this rhyme scheme is not adhered to though “aching, dead, crawl, bed”. Such anomalies do not detract from the overall enjoyability of the poem. The meter of the AABB scheme gives the poem a bouncy sing song feel, creating pace and rhythm that is synonymous with childrens literature, such as nursery rhymes, thus reinforcing my belief that the poem is suited to a young reader.
Brian Patten's poem The Magic Bicycle tells the tale of a horrible witch that casts a spell on an innocent young boy, Danny Harris. The witch's spell means that Danny is stuck on his bike and can never get off. As a result Danny reluctantly peddles around the globe, visiting new countries and exploring new cultures. After a considerable amount of country visiting by chance Danny bumps in to the witch again, having forgotten her spell she steals the bike from Danny, meaning that she is now stuck on the bike peddling the universe for eternity.
I think that the poem would be most suited to a young reader, from age six upwards. Although the poem is most suited to a young reader I think that Pattern challenges the young reader's cultural and geographical knowledge, with the inclusion of unfamiliar places and people such as the Chunnel, Pyrenees and the Bedouin people. The inclusion of such places and people will undoubtedly provoke further questions with the young reader, therefore I do not think that the poem is suited to independent reading.
Form, rhyme scheme and rhythm are all used effectively to illustrate the narrative and to anchor the poem securely in the genre of childrens poetry. Poetry is perhaps a genre that young readers will not often read, however it can be very enjoyable and because of the conventions it can be easy to navigate. I think that this is true to The Magic Bicycle, through form, rhyme and rhythm new and challenging places and people are presented within a simple style.
The poems dipodic quatrains loosely follow the recognisable AABB rhyme scheme, “witch, ditch”, “bike, tike”. There are a couple of occasions where this rhyme scheme is not adhered to though “aching, dead, crawl, bed”. Such anomalies do not detract from the overall enjoyability of the poem. The meter of the AABB scheme gives the poem a bouncy sing song feel, creating pace and rhythm that is synonymous with childrens literature, such as nursery rhymes, thus reinforcing my belief that the poem is suited to a young reader.
Displaying 1 of 1 review