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

By Garen Thomas and Suhasini Raj

" An] inspiring variation on the archetypal hero's journey in which personal courage, family loyalty, and the broader cultural context all play equally strong roles." --School Library Journal

Beautifully illustrated with scenes of contemporary Indian life, this inspiring (and true) story follows a young girl's remarkable bicycle journey across India to bring her father safely home as pandemic restrictions take hold.

It's early in the pandemic in India. The trains have been shut down to prevent contagion. For Jyoti, as for millions of migrant workers, getting home with her injured father will require enormous ingenuity and gumption. Follow the real-life story of a girl who--desperate for her father to survive--rode almost a thousand miles across India with him on the back of a hot-pink twenty-dollar bicycle. Her amazing story, relayed for a young audience by author Garen Thomas and reporter Suhasini Raj, is a portrait of an unassuming girl who made an extraordinary decision and became celebrated across India, breaking entrenched stereotypes of caste and gender. This story of love, determination, problem-solving, and a pink bicycle will speak to young people everywhere.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1536233609
• ISBN13: 9781536233605
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2