Chirri & Chirra (Volume 1)($13.44Value)

Description

A Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) Selection! A Wall Street Journal 20 Best Children’s Books of the Past 20 Years Selection! The first in a wonderfully imaginative series about two girls that is marked by revealing and lyrical small details. The first book in a completely charming series by a well-known Japanese author and illustrator, Chirri & Chirra introduces two girl characters who go on wonderful adventures together through the natural world. Vibrant, lively, and astonishingly sweet in a pure, unsentimental way, these pages present us with relatable children, small animals, lots of food, atmosphere, and many mysteries. PreS-Gr 1—This Japanese import is the first in a series featuring two nearly identical rosy-cheeked girls. Dressed in black leggings and button-down cardigans, they spend a day cycling through the forest, straight black hair billowing behind them. The sound of the bicycles—"dring-dring, dring-dring!"—signals each leg of their journey. Every establishment they visit accommodates creatures of varying sizes, so at the tidy woodland café, "they sit at a table that's just right for them." Children who love to imagine inhabiting a parallel animal realm will be enchanted by the mouthwatering concoctions and friendly interactions—drinking acorn coffee from the hollowed nut while conversing with the bee sipping violet tea, or later watching a rabbit select carrot buns with lemon jam at the roadside bakery. After an afternoon swim, the duo pedal to a cozy hotel where a deer welcomes them. The climax portrays a warmly lit view of clusters of animals on their individual balconies singing along with the orchestra in the courtyard below. Curving compositions and sweeping greenery rendered in colored pencil, combined with the white (negative) space swirling around each image on the page, recall the harmonious designs in Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House. While there's nary an adult in sight, this charming picture book is completely in touch with childhood desires and logic. VERDICT A sweet and safe selection to nourish children's spirits and fuel fantasies, best shared one-on-one so they can pore over the artwork.—Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library A Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) Selection - A Wall Street Journal 20 Best Children’s Books of the Past 20 Years Selection - A New York Magazine 2024 Holiday Gift Guide Selection One of Kirkus Reviews ’s Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far)! "Doi creates her illustrations with colored pencil, pastel, and crayon, crafting them to look like mid-20th-century lithographs. A serene, feel-good outing with a cozy, old-fashioned feel."― Kirkus Reviews One of the Wall Street Journal ’s “20 Best Children’s Books of the Past 20 Years: Most Beguiling Picture-Book Series!” "These enchanting books are like a dream of childhood—full of kindness, adventure and eccentric delights."― Meghan Cox Gurdon , The Wall Street Journal Featured in New York Magazine 's 2024 Holiday Gift Guide: Best Books to Gift to Little Kids! "It’s simple, and the colored-pencil illustrations are very charming — the best imaginative treats."― Illustrator Sarah Jacoby , New York Magazine’s The Strategist "I love a book that is just so clearly written to access the world inside a child’s mind... It’s an adventure to nowhere and everywhere and is so visually enchanting."― Comedy writer and bestselling author Bess Kalb , New York Magazine’s The Strategist "With a sweet story and darling illustrations, softly drawn and softly tinted on creamy paper, Kaya Doi's U.S. debut picture book, Chirri Chirra , takes 3- to 8-year-olds into a magical forest filled with genial animals and scrumptious things to eat... A day of happy adventure ends with the girls checking into a forest hotel and joining their fellow guests in a starlit serenade in this charming first volume."― The Wall Street Journal STARRED REVIEW! ★ "‘What a perfect day,' says Chirri as this story begins, and she’s right. Chirri and her sister Chirra go on a day-long bike ride through a gently rolling pastoral world. Amenities appear just when they need them: the forest café and the bakery, the bridge over the stream, the tree (perfect for napping under), and, finally, the forest hotel, where an animal symphony concert takes place. Adult humans are completely absent, which leaves room for the fox waiter, the raccoon baker, the pig flautist, and all the other animals of this peaceable kingdom... The crayon/ pastel illustrations in gentle, saturated colors on delicious creamy paper are reminiscent of Marie Hall Ets in In the Forest . There’s no tension here, no roadblocks, no problems for the girls to solve, just a summer idyll for those kids who cannot resist making acorns into hats for fairies and whose favorite part of any story is the description of what the characters ate. What does the rabbit have for lunch? Carrot buns with lemon jam. Of