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Picture books are one of the oldest and most highly refined art forms we have, combining word and image to create meaning and communicate feelings and ideas.
It is especially gratifying to me as a children's librarian (for 40 years) and rider (for 58 years) to share with you the what I consider to be the best picture books in English about motorcyclists and motorcycling. Any of these are perfect for sharing with others, with children, or anyone you love. Snuggle up on the couch and read!
How do I get these books?
Your local public library! The best picture books may only be available in hardcover and can be relatively expensive. But your local public library specializes in children's picture books and will be happy to order them and add them to their collection if folks in their community want them, if they are in print (that is, can be purchased), and if they are positively reviewed by professionals like, ahem, me. (Pro tip: Just show them this review and tell them it was written by a children's librarian who has reviewed books for School Library Journal.)
If you do decide you want to own them, your local independent bookstore or bookshop.org will be happy to order those that are in print. Sometimes you can also buy them directly from the publisher.
OK, enough throat-clearing. On to the books!
"My Papi Has a Motorcycle"
By Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña. Published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. 2019. Also available in a Spanish-language edition "Mi Papi tiene una moto."
As a father, I can't read this book without crying. Narrated by the daughter, Daisy Ramona, the deep love between Daisy and her Papi is palpable. What makes "My Papi Has a Motorcycle" particularly impressive is that it conveys the essence of what it really feels like to ride ("We become a spectacular celestial thing soaring on asphalt") and the way that riding immerses us in the world around us ("As we ride on, I feel and hear everyone and everything we pass by"). Papi's final words say it all: "Mañana we fly again."
This may well be the best picture book ever written about a father-daughter relationship. And one of the best descriptions of the delights of riding pillion with someone you love and trust.
"Girl on a Motorcycle"
By Amy Novesky, illustrated by Julie Morstad. Published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House. 2020.
In 1973, Anne-France Dautheville set out from her home in Paris on a Kawasaki 125 enduro to ride solo around the world. And that is just what she did.
"Girl on a Motorcycle" does much more than tell her story — it captures the essence of Anne-France's journey — and, more importantly, her spirit. Her radical simplicity, indomitable optimism, iron-willed perseverance, and deep love for the world and its people are embodied in this book. With a simplicity of style, both text and illustrations match the minimal, just-enough nature of her kit and her bike.
Novesky also captures much that we have felt as riders: "She is all alone, but she is not afraid. She is free." And she captures another part of riding we all know:
"She falls often.
Sometimes it is fun.
Sometimes not.
But she always gets back up."
Deeply moving and compelling, Anne-France is best understood in her own powerful words: "J'ai envie que le monde soit beau, il est beau. J'ai envie que les gens soient bons, il est bons.
"I want the world to be beautiful, and it is beautiful. I want people to be good, and they are good."
"Bessie the Motorcycle Queen"
By Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Charlot Kristensen. Published by Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic. 2022.
Using rhyming verse, Smith tells the inspiring story of Bessie Stringfield, a young Black woman who rode her 1928 Indian Scout back and forth across the United States in the 1930s. She supported herself by riding the Wall of Death in travelling carnivals and faced down — and outraced — racism and sexism. Her skill as a rider and her unflappable faith, determination, and optimism shine through this book. Kristensen’s illustrations are as bold and colorful as their subject. Smith provides a particularly moving and insightful biographical note at the end, “Bessie’s Story”, as well as a helpful bibliography for those who want to learn more about Bessie Stringfield.
"Motorcycle Queen: The Life of Bessie Stringfield"
By Janie Havermeyer, illustrated by Jean Celaverie. Published by Creative Editions. 2024.
Havermeyer tells a fictional story inspired by Bessie Stringfield's life. In it, she addresses some of the struggles Bessie Stringfield must have faced and speculatively fills in some of her backstory, as Bessie was understandably protective of her early history and family. As Havermeyer says in her author's note, "Bessie made up facts about her parents and where she grew up because the truth was hard."
This only makes Bessie Stringfield all the more amazing. And, while fictional, this story is firmly grounded in Bessie's reality, including her service as a motorcycle dispatch rider for the U.S. Army in World War II, and her years as the Motorcycle Queen of Miami.
"Rolling Thunder"
By Kate Messner, illustrated by Greg Ruth. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic. 2017.
Messner, an award-winning children's book author, teams up with Dark Horse Comics and graphic novel illustrator Ruth to take us along on the annual United States Memorial Day Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom from the perspective of a boy making the ride in his grandfather's sidecar. Especially moving is the passage where they come to The Wall, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial:
"Leave a single flower. Kneel.
Names in charcoal. Cry. And heal."
"Rabbit and the Motorbike"
By Kate Hoefler, illustrated by Sarah Jacoby. Published by Chronicle Books. 2019. Poet Kate Hoefler captures how many of us feel about riding and friends and stories, and how inextricably intertwined they are for us. When homebody Rabbit's rider friend Dog passes, he leaves Rabbit his motorbike. And when Rabbit finally "...said softly to the bike one afternoon, Just down the road," he "...felt Dog right there with him, The heart can sing like that."
Sarah Jacoby's illustrations are as gentle, colorful, and evocative as Hoefler's poetry.
"Midnight Motorbike"
By Maureen Shay Tajsar, illustrated by Ishita Jain. Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Holiday House. 2025.
Tajsar's memories of riding pillion on her mother's motorbike in rural Tamil Nadu, South India, inspired this extraordinary work. The smells, sounds, images, and feelings of a motorbike ride through the night on the Bay of Bengal come alive:
"...on a night too hot to sleep we ride through villages,
And I see flashes of snake eyes and bougainvillea
In our motorbike headlights."
Jain's illustrations deserve special praise as their vibrant colors interweave perfectly with Tajsar's poetic meditation on her memories of South Indian nights and her mother.
There are wonderful new picture books coming out every year. I encourage you to explore this unique art form, suitable for children of any age. If you want an expert guide, a real human one is as close as your nearest public library. As we say, "If you really want to know, ask a librarian!" And in this case, ask a children's librarian.
