Ready to Ride - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

2 minutes ago

3 min read

A fun book about a young girl determined not to be left out of family adventures, who ingenuity helps create a way for her to experience the outdoors with her family.

Book cover - a child rides a four-wheel electric bike/chair on a trail around a mountain lake.

Ready to Ride

Author: Diane Mittler

Illustrator: Andrea Altamirano

Publisher: Beaming Books (October 13, 2026)

Ages: 4-8

Fiction

Themes:

Disability, determination, inventiveness, and adventure.

Synopsis:

An empowering story of a determined kid who redefines what it means to go off-road.

Jules loves adventures. But when her family explores paths her wheelchair can't reach, she feels stuck--in a rut, in the mud, stopped by a steep slope. She's tired of missing out. But then an idea sparks and ignites, propelling her on a journey to find an innovative solution to make sure that when her family goes on their next adventure, she's ready to ride.

Based on the author's lived experiences, Ready to Ride inspires readers to challenge the status quo and problem-solve with their communities. An author's note expands on her own adventure finding a way to explore the places she dreamed about.

Opening Lines:

“Three . . . two . . . one . . . GO!” I shout.

My brother takes off running.

I shift the control switch from turtle to bunny, shove the joystick

forward, and zoom past my brother. I always win this race.

What I Loved about this book:

Starting off with our enthusiastic narrator, Jules, racing her brother in the park, we get a great sense of her personality as she shifts her wheelchair "from turtle to bunny."

Internal spread - on the left, a small boy runs along a park trail past a fountain, as a woman walks two barking dogs. On the right, a girl zooms down the patk trail in her wheelshair beeting the boy in a race.

Text © Diane Mittler, 2026. Image © Andrea Altamirano, 2026.

Through softly-colored illustrations, abounding with nature, and succinct text, the reader follows Jules and her family as the explore "wilder places." Until there's a dramatic shift in illustration and emotions . . .

Internal spread - on the left, a sad girl in a wheelchair being pushed through a steep rut, and stuck by a puddle, as the outlide of her brother runs into a cave in a tree's trunk. On the right, girl in wheelchair unable to go up a steep hill and sitting alone in her chair with squiggles representing her frustration.

The illustrations shift to shades of purples and blues. Jules' smile and laugh are transformed into frowns and frustration. The limitations of her wheelchair prevent her from joining her family on their adventures. Andrea Altamirano does a great job of capturing Jules frustration and lack of control with tight, tangled swirls and the giant colorful tears of longing radiating around her family's car as she declares, “I wish I could join too.” You can't help but feel her feelings of frustration and isolation.

Internal spread - on the left, a girl in a wheelchair and her younger brother holding a ball see a woman riding a 3-wheel, low sitting bike. A jagged division seperates the pages, with gears and stars coming from the girl's head. On the right, girl in a wheelchair and father excitedly make plans to make her a special mobility bike.

When a neighbor's new bike, "sparks, flickers, then IGNITES" and idea, Jules and her dad model the scientific method in researching, drawing plans, experimenting, and trying again and again. After a bit of expert help, finally she's ready to ride. With a wonderful mirror of the earlier purple & blue illustration, a smiling Jules is able to join her family climbing the hill, exploring the cave in the leafy tree, and celebrating (instead of frowning). It's a wonderful representation of the real world - sometimes our ideas need our families and others' help to be fully realized. But that doesn't diminish our creativity, problem solving, or feelings of success.

The final spreads are as enthusiastic and colorful as the beginning. In addition to highlighting creativity, engineering, and problem solving, it might help young readers to appreciate accessibility issues and a way to experience and channel their own strong emotions. A wonderful author's note explains the author's own mobility issue and her moments of frustration and disappointment which lead to her husband to create "an off-road electric bike with fat tires" for her. This is a beautifully illustrated and inspiring story based on real-life which offers kids a much needed mirror and window of mobility issues and a great encouragement to foster creativity and inventiveness.

Resources:

if you were to create a special mobility bike or scooter, what would yours look like? Draw a picture, write a description, or build a model of your vehicle.

do you have a favorite place to go outdoors and explore? Where is it and what do you like seeing or doing at this spot?

pair this with No Legs, No Limits by Kanya Sesser and Nisha Lamsam Ligon, illustrated by Lenny Wen, Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe by Amy S. Hansen and Wanda Díaz Merced, illustrated by Rocío Arreola Mendoza, and Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes by Patty Cisneros Prevo, illustrated by Dion MBD.

If you missed my interview with Diane Mittler Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series of blog posts by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.