Bartali's Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy's Secret Hero
by Megan Hoyt
illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
Informational Resources:
Author Information:
Illustrator Information:
https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/iacopo-bruno
Activities & Resources:
Activities:
Teaching Guide Activities from HarperCollins:
Gino Bartali
Legacy of Gino Bartali (2:20): https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=TZjUH_BWJFQ
Trailblazer Gino Bartali (8:18): https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=JXbHgb_ErUI
Read about Gino Bartali: https://theworld.org/stories/2017-05-26/incredible-story-italian-cyclist-gino-bartali-who-risked-his-life-rescue-jews
Read about Gino Bartali: https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2017/09/07/gino-bartali-cycling-champion-helped-jews-escape-nazis/
Bicycles
10 Cool Things About Bicycles: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/ten-fun-facts-about-bikes
Bicycle safety tips: https://www.weareteachers.com/bike-safety-smarts-for-teachers-and-kids/
Biking activities: https://www.twowheelingtots.com/15-biking-activities-for-summer/
Tour de France
Research what the Tour de France is and how special it was to be the winner of this race.
Le Tour de France for beginners (11:33): https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=1v6l1_lfFN0
Tour de France Kids Guide: https://www.cyclesprog.co.uk/family-cycling-advice/tour-de-france/tour-de-france-kids-guide/
World War II
Research the basics of World War II to understand why Gino Bartali took a stand and helped Jewish families.
General history of WWII: https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/history/general-history/world-war-two/
General history of WWII: https://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_ii/
MakerSpace Activities:
Make a bicycle (4:38): https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=1suC1kg_RO4
Easy bicycle craft: https://someonesmum.co.uk/2018/06/14/easy-bicycle-craft-kids/
CD bicycle craft (4:14) This activity requires the use of a glue gun and an exacto blade: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=t5-qfqlbVjw
How to Draw a Bike video (9:55): https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=-R1HcGow4XM
In the back of the book, the author includes a timeline of Gino Bartali’s life. Create a timeline for your life. Be sure to include all the major events from your life.
In the back of the book, the illustrator included an illustration of a medal for Gino Bartali. Gino Bartali never recieved a medal for his heroism. Think of someone you know who deserves a medal and design one for them.
Think about what you like or what you would stand up for. Look at the endpapers of the book. There are many examples of different bicycle jerseys. Download one of these templates to design your own bicycle jersey to reflect your likes or views: https://www.cyclingbox.com/blank-templates
Discussion Questions:
Gino Bartali had to train many hours on his bicycle in many different types of environments and weather. What is something you enjoy enough to practice or train this hard to learn to perform well?
When Gino Bartali won the Tour de France the first time people called him a hero. On page 3, he said “Heroes are those who have suffered. I am just a cyclist.” What did he mean?
How do you think your life might change if a new war started?
In the book on page 7, “A powerful leader said, ‘People will fall for a big lie more easily than a small one.’” What did this leader mean?
This “powerful leader” said that Jewish people were not really human and that they must be arrested. How would you feel if someone said you were not human just because of where you were born or what you looked like? How would you feel if it was your friend they said was not human? What would you do?
Hoyt never mentions Adolf Hitler by name, but he is the powerful leader who influences the people to fall for a big lie. Why doesn’t she mention his name?
Gino Bartali could have gotten into trouble with the Italian law if he was caught delivering the fake identity papers to Jewish families. Did he do the right thing delivering those papers?
What did Gino Bartali mean when he said “Some medals are pinned to your soul, not your jacket” (p. 32)?
Gino Bartali hid the fake identity papers in the hollow bars of his bicycle. Think about your life, if you were helping these families, how would you hide the papers?
When Gino Bartali helped the families in the train station by keeping the guards busy, he was taking a bigger risk. Then he hid the Goldenburg family in his basement to keep them safe. This was an even bigger risk. Who in your life would you take this big a risk for and why?
Gino Bartali had to wear the Italian militia uniform, but he turned it into an opportunity to help find prisoners. He saved forty-nine English soldiers who were being held prisoner. How else could he help now that he was wearing a uniform?
Gino Bartali was thrown from his bicycle and it was bent and broken after bombs blasted the Italian piazza he was riding through. His own city of Florence was a battle zone. Was it time for Gino to give up helping the Jewish people? Could you continue to fight after these setbacks? Why?
Many people around the world had joined the fight “against the soldiers whose hearts were filled with hate. They, too, were rescuing Jewish families. And soon, the liar was defeated! The war was over!” The Goldenberg family was able to come out of the cellar for the first time in a long time. What would you have done first if you had to hide for a long period of time?
Gino Bartali saved the lives of more that eight hundred Jewish people during the war, but he never talked about it. He said, “Good is something you do, not something you talk about” (p. 25). What did he mean?
No one knew about Gino Bartali helping Jewish families during WWII until 2010, about 70 years after he helped. Why would he not want others to know what he had done?
People called Gino Bartali a hero. Who is a hero to you? Why?
Book Talk Teasers:
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Watch the book trailer and author/illustrator interviews embedded at the bottom of the page.
Read Alikes:
Picture Books Set During WWII:
Borden, Louise. The Greatest Skating Race: a WWII Story from the Netherlands. During World War II in the Netherlands, a ten-year-old boy's dream of skating in a famous race allows him to help two children escape to Belgium by ice skating past German soldiers and other enemies. (NoveList)
Burg, Ann E. Rebekkah's journey: a WWII refugee story. After eluding capture by the Nazis, seven-year-old Rebekkah and her mother are brought from Italy to the United States to begin a new life. (NoveList)
Elvgren, Jennifer Riesmeyer. The Whispering Town. In Denmark during World War II, young Annett, her parents, and their neighbors help a Jewish family hide from Nazi soldiers until it is safe for them to leave Annett's basement. (NoveList)
Historical Fiction Novels Set During WWII:
Gratz, Alan. Allies. It is June 6, 1944, D-Day, and Dee Carpenter (true name Dietrich Zimmermann), an underage private in the United States Army, is headed for Omaha Beach, seeking revenge for his uncle, who was arrested by Nazis when Dee was a little boy; meanwhile, Samira Zidano, an eleven-year old French-Algerian girl is looking for the French resistance, desperate to deliver the message that the invasion is about to begin, and get their help in freeing her mother--this is the most important day of the twentieth century, and both children want to fight, and survive. (NoveList)
Hughes, Shirley. Hero on a Bicycle. When their mother reluctantly joins the Italian Resistance against Nazi occupying forces in World War II Florence, young Paolo and his sister, Costanza, devise a clever way to use their bicycle to assist the movement. (NoveList)
Meyer, Susan. Black Radishes. Gustave and his family, who are Jewish, are forced to flee to the countryside when the Germans occupy France, but to reach Free France which would enable them to escape to America, Gustave must undertake a risky venture into the occupied zone. (NoveList)
McDonough, Yona Zeldis. The Bicycle Spy. Twelve-year-old Marcel loves riding his bicycle, and dreams of competing in the Tour de France, but it is 1942 and German soldiers are everywhere, stopping him as he delivers bread from his parents' bakery around Aucoin--then one day he discovers that it is not just bread he is delivering, and suddenly he finds himself in possession of dangerous secrets about his parents and his new friend from Paris, Delphine. (NoveList)
Reviews:
Hoyt, Megan. Bartali’s Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy’s Secret Hero. Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2021.
Booklist
Bartali’s Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy’s Secret Hero.
By Megan Hoyt. Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno.
Feb. 2021. 40p. Harper/Quill Tree, $17.99 (9780062908117). Grades 1-4. 796.6. REVIEW. First published February 15, 2021 (Booklist).
This lushly illustrated picture-book biography tells of Tour de France champion Gino Bartali and his heroic efforts to save Jewish people in Italy during WWII. Bartali was a popular bicycling champion, known for his training rides around Florence and the surrounding countryside. When the Nazis invaded Italy in 1943, Bartali worked as a courier for the Resistance, delivering safe-passage documents. He also sheltered a Jewish family, engineered an escape for 49 imprisoned British soldiers, and would whip up rowdy crowds of admirers to distract German soldiers during Resistance operations. The story-like text provides sufficient background to put these events into context and stresses that Bartali never talked about his contributions: though he remained a well known public figure (and won the Tour de France a second time), he remained silent about his wartime activities, which were only revealed after his death in 2000. This attractive and engaging account of a famous athlete, recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 2013, and his quiet heroism is inspirational and adds a unique perspective to Holocaust literature. —Kathleen McBroom
Used with the permission of Booklist https://www.booklistonline.com/
School Library Journal Xpress starred (June 4, 2021)
Gr 4-8-Gino Bartali was a resistance hero who used his bike, his reputation as a competitive cyclist, and his fame as a Tour de France winner not only to fool the German troops who occupied Italy but also to help hundreds of families escape during World War II. Jewish Italians were desperate to flee but needed new identities to leave the country. Bartali stuffed the lifesaving papers into the tubes of his bike, then carried on his ostensible business of training for races, all the while dropping off valuable documents, covering more than 250 miles a day over mountains, through villages, and into larger cities. When he was forced to join the militia, he used his role to locate and free prisoners and kept a family hidden in his own basement. All the while, his humility and modesty prevailed: He never discussed his role in this effort, so his heroism wasn't known until well after he died. The author uses clear, descriptive sentences that flow and paint a vivid picture. The art is striking and has an art-deco feel to it, which lends itself to the era. Each illustration shows some part or angle of Bartali's bike, and Bartali himself, dressed in colorful biking clothes, is often in the foreground while Nazis are portrayed in darker tones in the background. Back matter includes a brief time line of Bartali's life, a letter from his granddaughter, an author's note, and a list of sources. VERDICT This would be a great start for any student wanting to know more about how different people helped resist the efforts of the Nazis during World War II.-Maggie Chase, Boise State Univ., ID © Copyright 2021. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Reprinted with permission from School Library Journal ©2021
Book Trailer
Author& Illustrator Interviews
MHoyt.mp4IBruno.mp4