Great book for kids to see the differences and similarities of the boy vs. girl view on writing a story!

Fun mesh of a girl fairytale and what a little boy would prefer hearing. The illustrations were really great and it was a fun read.

A book my 6 yr old as well as my twin 3 yr olds loved. A solid reading level 1 book, this cute story keeps all ages engaged with the bright colorful pictures and cute story. We loved the differences between boys and girls and how they fought over their choice of story topic. It was also nice to see the conflict resolution at the end with a compromise. A great addition to any children's library.

Great for all ages! The content connects to both boys and girls. This graphic novel picture book shows wonderful examples of author's voice!

If you like fairy tales then this picture book is pure fun. A boy and a girl take turns telling the story and they can't agree on how the fairy tale should be told.

A girl and boy are supposed to work together on telling a fairy tale. The girl wants it to be about a princess, the boy a motorcycle dude...hilarity ensues.

Used with elementary classes over the years. 11/19/13

Used as the last book for a camp visit and even though no one had picked it earlier I had several children request a second reading.

Two kids are supposed to research a fairy tale and then report back to their class, but they couldn’t agree on one. So they made up their own, which has elements of all kinds of fairy tales. The girl partner starts the story, and it’s all flowery, princessy and beautiful. The boy partner interrupts half way through the story and brings in the motorcycle dude who is strong and tough (should I say ‘tuff’?). He tells for a bit, but then they begin to interrupt each other more and more, until they agree to work together to finish the story. This is a fun book, and readers will enjoy the power struggle between the two; girls will especially love the bit of girl-power that shows up partway through the telling. O’Malley did the classroom and student illustrations, and he partnered with two other illustrators to show when the girl was telling the story and when the boy was telling the story. This book would work really well for a tandem storytelling, if you ever have the chance.

As a fan of fractured fairytales, this metafictive piece drew me in from the cover to the arguing kids who co-create the story in a story. What teacher hasn't experienced a group project gone awry like this? As McCallum says, "reading is an elaborate form of play," and this book uses several postmodern picture book devices to tell a playful parody of traditional princess stories.

The typography and illustration style differ between the three stories- the princess tale, the story of the motorcycle dude, and the outer layer about the two students who are writing and fighting around the periphery. This story draws attention to how stories themselves are created in a lighthearted way, and could easily be used in a classroom to introduce a partner or group writing assignment. There are lessons on bravery, creative compromise, and, as most postmodern picture books seem to have, lessons on boundary breaking. Would definitely recommend!

Great for school-age programming.

A boy and a girl are tasked with presenting a book report about their favorite fairy tale, but they can't agree on which story to present, so they make up their own instead. The girl suggests it should be about ponies and princesses, but the boy thinks it should be about a motorcycle dude. Their tales clash, bridging into feminism and motorcycle culture and maybe come to a satisfying conclusion.

This was a lovely book to read at the Harley Davidson Museum. It captures child psychology well and makes more than one good point.

GREAT book for kids. A boy and a girl compete to tell a story, and as each breaks in and changes the plot a corresponding illustrator draws what each says (so there are 3 distinct picture styles). Thus a sweet, tender princess ends up spinning gold for a motorcycle dude while her ponies are kidnapped and... you get the idea. Great fun.

If you are having trouble pleasing two crowds this book, "Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude" is sure to please all. I loved how this book managed to juggle two very different genres with almost no effort at all.