FOX AND THE BIKE RIDE

Passengers on a bicycle-built-for-many get more than they bargained for.

Today’s the Annual Tour de Tip-Top (read: bike ride), and the animals can’t wait. Fox? Not so much; yawn. To him, the same route, slow pace, and scenery that riders enjoy every year are too humdrum, though snacks are involved. This time he wants danger and thrills besides. While his friends tend to assigned chores, Fox, in charge of bikes, assembles a cleverly souped-up vehicle with multiple seats—but forgets the brakes. Oops. (Good thing they’re wearing helmets.) This glitch causes Fox and his cohorts to careen crazily up, down, and all around, the mad scramble compounded by airplane wings and a rudder that emerge on the bike at the push of Fox’s button. Afterward, the incredulous animals marvel at their adventure and settle in for snack time, except for Fox. But did he really forget those brakes? Readers noticing Fox’s knowing wink as he looks straight out at them will believe otherwise. As he did in his debut about this crafty trickster (Fox and the Jumping Contest, 2016), Tabor creates riotously lively, digitally assembled scenes with pencils, watercolor, and ink to accompany a satisfying, comical tale in which Fox’s wild scheme turns out well—sort of: in the final illustration, as the other riders doze, contented and sated, Fox is shown searching for something new.

A fun, free-wheeling romp.