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The Boy Who Biked the World Part 1: On the Road to Africa

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The Boy Who Biked the World Part 1: On the Road to Africa by Alastair Humphreys

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By Alastair Humphreys

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53 reviews

Part one of the bestselling trilogy

Discover Africa by bicycle in Book One of a children’s adaptation of Alastair Humphreys’ journey around the world. In this charming caricature of the author’s own circumnavigation by bike, we meet Tom, an adventurous boy who feels there must be more to life than school. We follow him as he leaves England, cycling through Europe and all the way through Africa to the tip of South Africa. Along the way, young readers are introduced not only to the various fascinating landscapes he passes through, but also to the people who embrace him as he travels. With engaging illustrations and journal entries throughout, this delightful series provides an immersive experience for any young adventurer.

Reviews

12 Sep 2025

Amazing! Can’t wait to read the next one. Loved hearing about all the countries.

11 Aug 2025

Started this at school. Then found it in a charity shop. So excited going through africa and meeting all the different people and seeing different places

13 Sep 2024

The Boy Who Biked the World: Part One: On the Road to Africa by Alastair Humphreys, and illustrated by Tom Morgan-Jones is a very good book!

13 Aug 2024

I so much liked the book,it’s a fiction book l like Tom because he knew his adventure and worked towards it,the book is very interesting because it has great stories about Tom who biked the world ,so I highly recommend this book because it is a great book to read.

07 Jul 2024

True story!

26 May 2024

This book was amazing. I borrowed a copy of this book from my teacher at school and read it. Even though it was short, It was really interesting. Tom still has a long way to go! My class are now reading the second one together

01 Oct 2023

I'm really not sure what to make of this book! I really had to get over the fact that this could never happen and then get on with enjoying the snippets of facts about the countries that Tom travelled through. Great for children interested in Geography . Aimed at 8+

08 Sep 2023

I liked this book because each chapter takes you to a new place, and the drawings are fantastic. The writing is very visual and descriptive.

29 Aug 2023

Great story cleverly done.

17 Aug 2023

It was just about a boy who travels and they was more parts of the book of it to read, but I would recommend to people who like geography.

31 Jul 2023

This was a fictional book, the character I liked the most is Tom because he was told that he could not even make it to Africa but at the end of the book. I would recommend to people that would like to travel the world when they are older. 7-12 yrs old

12 Jul 2023

It was a brilliant read because it was really energetic and lively but the author didn’t rush to get to an exiting moment , so I would say it is an interesting and slow moving book.

03 Sep 2022

a brilliant book for people like tom in the story.

08 Jul 2022

I would recommend it because it tells you facts about the world

31 Aug 2021

I thought this was a really good book.
I liked the character called Tom.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!

21 Aug 2021

I liked his friends along the way! And his journey to AFRICA!!!! And I might recommend. PS I finished it a long time ago this summer...!!

06 Aug 2021

It is about a boy who one day in class said out loud I’m going to go round the world. So he does and this book tells of his adventures to Africa. My favourite character is Tom because he is determined to follow his dreams. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure books and learning about the world.

31 Jul 2021

I loved it, it was really amazing when he went through the desert. My favourite character was Tom. I would love to recommend it to somebody else.

28 Jul 2021

It teaches you about other countries and languages

28 Jul 2021

It showed you how to speak a different language

29 Jun 2021

A thrilling adventure about a wannabe bike-rider

28 Jan 2021

He had a lot of self-belief and went through lots of highs and lows in the book.

14 Jan 2021

This book is about a boy who wanted to bike the world. Everyone teased him that he couldn't do it, but one day he road the whole of Africa and saw many places like pyramids secret underground passages and many more!

30 Sep 2020

I loved learning about different places in Africa. Tom is very brave.

08 Sep 2020

I loved this book because I love my bike, bananas and adventure. Now I want to try all the food and ride around the world.

07 Sep 2020

Loved Toms adventures through Europe and all the fun places he went. We looked at a big map and followed him. Would definately recommend.

28 Aug 2020

It was interesting yet a bit boring overall I would have preferred it to be a all of the world collection instead of having to buy the next one now I have finished it

Interesting yet boring at the majority of times

28 Aug 2020

It is interesting and tells you about lots of different countries and things about them like their buildings and food. It's fun

25 Aug 2020

I really like cycling and I'm interested in the world.

24 Aug 2020

This was a great book about cycling around the world.

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