l to r: Kyo Maclear and Gracey Zhang

Noodles on a Bicycle invites readers to experience the wonder of watching delivery men balance precarious towers of boxed noodles and bowls while cycling through the busy streets of mid-20th-century Tokyo.

Author Kyo Maclear tells the tale from the perspective of neighbourhood children, a collective “we” who “sit outside / and watch / and wait / for the flicker of pedal and wheel.” The layout highlights their breathless anticipation with each phrase separated by white space on the page, visual poetry that keeps the reader in equal suspense. Maclear’s rhythmic cadence enhances the vividness of her descriptions: who wouldn’t crave noodles after reading about “soupy, slurpy noodles” and “cold, chewy noodles made for dipping”?

However, her writing sometimes hits discordant notes. When the children wonder, “Do they dream of noodles? All night long?” the break in the middle adds a consciously philosophical air that feels too adult. 

Illustration: Gracey Zhang

Gracey Zhang’s art is wonderfully magical throughout. Her playful illustrations and thoughtful choices around movement and stillness take readers on an emotional journey. For example, the sheer size of one cyclist’s tower of deliveries seems uncontrollable; it leans away from the delivery man and arcs across the page. It leans away from the delivery man and arcs across the page. The stacking is haphazard; the tower seems destined to topple, yet the delivery man’s calm smile assures that he remains perfectly in control.

As delivery men make their rounds, Zhang conveys the expansiveness of an entire neighbourhood that all comes together in play. Children run after the bikes, and even cars and buses lean forward to join in. And when the day winds down, and one delivery man soaks his tired body in a tub, his wife on a stool beside him, Zhang contains the image within a narrow doorway. The restraint evokes the stillness and intimacy of the moment.

Both story and art effectively express the incredible skills of these delivery men. Archival photos bookending the story are fascinating proof that the wondrous feats depicted within are all based on reality.