The Bicycle Girl: Jyoti Kumari’s Amazing Journey Across India

In an uneven tale of perseverance and survival, Thomas and Raj chronicle the 2020 journey of then-teenage Jyoti Kumari, who, as Covid-19 breaks out across India, pedals more than 700 miles on a secondhand bicycle to transport her injured migrant-worker father home. The creators repeat Kumari’s mantra—“It’s a little hard, but not a lot”—as the teen, with her beloved Pita on the back of the bike, draws strength from elephants and tigers, gods and goddesses. Across saturated scenes, Joshi’s lushly rendered digital illustrations incorporate Indian motifs and Hindu iconography: Kumari and her father are lulled to sleep by Vayu, the wind god, and Kumari “fills herself with the aag of Kali,” the goddess of time and destruction. Alternating between English and Hindi, urgent third-person text acknowledges the determination behind an act that, in the end, “was very hard.... But means a lot.” Extensive back matter offers necessary context. Ages 4–7. (Jan.)