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Samantha's Blue Bicycle (American Girl: Short Stories #23) by Valerie Tripp

 

Summary (from the publisher): Gard and Cornelia are back from their honeymoon--and they've brought a surprise for Samantha. 

Review: The American Girl short story books do such a good job at providing a full and well-rounded feeling story in few pages and this one was no different. Gard and Cornelia have just returned from their honeymoon and gifted Samantha a bike. While Samantha is excited to learn to ride it, she gets scared after a fall. 

This is once again such a relatable story even for children of today. One of my children has been learning to ride a bike so we read this at the perfect time. It's a great lesson in not giving up and that new skills require patience, practice, and often some bravery to conquer. I also particularly love the way this story paints Grandmary in a new light. In much of the books she comes across as rigid and old-fashioned but in this we see she is willing to change her mind and be open to new practices. She is so kind to Samantha in this and really saves the day despite initially being very opposed to Samantha learning to ride a bike at all. 

I just wish these stories would indicate when in the series they should be read. This one came in between a couple of the later books, and I would have read it before finishing the full-length series had I known that. 

Stars: 4

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