Slater does an excellent job inhabiting that space between imagination and real life that allows two things to be true: Wild Blue can be simultaneously a horse and a bicycle. Hughes's soft acrylic-ink illustrations capture that space as well: we sometimes see Kayla in a cowboy hat in the company of a large horse, and at other times in a bicycle helmet with her bike. Readers will appreciate Kayla's commitment to her imaginative life, along with Slater's twist on the familiar learning-to-ride-a-bike story. --The Horn Book A quiet story, this may help young readers who are similarly transitioning their two-wheeled steeds or prepare them for the experience of doing so. A new tale with a classic feel that will buoy many young riders. --Kirkus Reviews Through the extended metaphor of taming a wild stallion, an imaginative child describes learning to ride a new bike in this warmly encouraging story. aptly captures the thrilling triumph of learning to ride. --Publishers Weekly Kayla's "pink pony" (a bike with training wheels) is too small for her now, and it's time to put it "out to pasture" and find a more suitable steed.

Kayla "wrangles" a ride she dubs Wild Blue at the bike shop, but the bike is a huge adjustment from her old one. Viewers taking on a daunting new skill may relate to and benefit from Kayla's imaginative methods. --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books This picture book, in which a girl trades in her training wheels for a daunting two-wheeler, is a subtle but effective demonstration of how exposure therapy can conquer fear. The acrylic-ink illustrations and sunset hues brilliantly enhance the Old West metaphor, as the landscape shifts incrementally from urban to rural. a great example of step-by-step learning. --Booklist In this understanding picture book by Dashka Slater, we meet a young girl who imagines that her low-slung kiddie bike is a pink pony. There's a beguiling fluidity in the illustrations (see below) that allows us to see the child's surroundings both as they are and as her fancy perceives them. Readers ages 3-6 who are nervous about taming their own big-kid bikes will find a heroine to cheer in this heartening and humorous tale.

--The Wall Street Journal.