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Bound With These Titles
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Summary
Summary
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.
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kaya Doi graduated with a degree in design from Tokyo Zokei University. She got her start in picture books by attending the Atosaki Juku Workshop, held at a Tokyo bookshop specializing in picture books. Since then she has produced numerous picture books featuring her softly styled, color-pencil drawings. She now lives in Chiba Prefecture and maintains a strong interest in environmental and animal welfare issues. Since the earthquake of 2011 she has been active in recovery and shelter efforts for abandoned pets.
Author Notes
Born in Tokyo, Kaya Doi graduated with a degree in design from Tokyo Zokei University. She got her start in picture books by attending the Atosaki Juku Workshop, a program at a Tokyo bookshop specializing in illustrated books. Since then she has created many picture books with her softly styled, color-pencil drawings
She now lives in Chiba Prefecture and maintains a strong interest in environmental and animal welfare issues. Since the earthquake of March 2011 she has been active in recovery and shelter efforts for abandoned pets.
Yuki Kaneko was born and educated in Japan. She is a sculptor, a translator, an urban naturalist, and a botanist. She works on New York City's High Line and lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
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 © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book 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 cafe 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. Creatures of all sizes are accommodated, with tiny teacups for honeybees to drink their sweet violet tea and hotel rooms suitable for all travelers, from lizards to bears. 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 course. sarah ellis (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In this Japanese import, the first in a long-running series to appear in English, two girls ride bikes through a forestwith stops for clover-blossom tea and jam sandwiches.Its such a benign wood that Chirri and Chirradepicted as a prim pair of identical twins with straight bob cutsthink nothing of sharing both a lunch spot and a nap beneath a tree with a bear and a rabbit. Moreover, at convenient spots along the way there is a forest cafe with a fox waiter plus tables and chairs of all different size to accommodate the diverse forest clientele, a bakery offering bread in all different shapes and jam in all different colors, and, just as the sun goes down, a forest hotel with similarly diverse keys and doors. That night a forest concert draws the girls and the hotels animal guests to their balconies to join in: La-la-la, La-la-la. What a wonderful night in the forest! Despite heavy doses of cute, the episode is saved from utter sappiness by the inclusive spirit of the forest stops and the delightfully unforced way that the girls offer greetings to a pair of honeybees at a tiny adjacent table in the cafe, show no anxiety at the spider dangling above their napping place, and generally accept their harmonious sylvan world as a safe and friendly place. 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. (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Two young children, Chirri and Chirra, wake up early one morning with a yearning for adventure, so off they go, riding their bikes over bumpy roads and under a canopy of sun-drenched leaves. A café and bakery offer treats from the forest, and a riverbank makes the perfect spot for an afternoon nap. When dusk approaches, they check into the forest hotel, where a child-sized room waits just for them. The evening finishes with a beautiful chorus sung by Chirri, Chirra, and many forest creatures, as the stars begin to appear. Making her English language debut, this import by a well-known Japanese author and illustrator captures the beauty and magic of nature with friendly animals and rich, abundant flora. The illustrations are lovely and delicately drawn with soft edges and heavily textured, vibrant hues. Precious without being twee, the illustrations reflect a traditional Japanese aesthetic surrounding the beauty of nature. This will appeal to young readers with a taste for exploring, and send them to sleep with calming visions of the natural world.--Hayes, Summer Copyright 2017 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
Turning the pages of the "Chirri & Chirra" books, imports from Japan, feels like falling into a tiny, exquisite dream. This latest one has a wintertime theme and a mochi-colored palette. The adorableness is off the charts as the rosy-cheeked twins head out on their bikes and find the usual talking animals, sweet treats and other early childhood wish-fulfillment items (marbles, hand-held lanterns, a shelf of colorful books). This outing, on the first day of snowfall, takes them to an ice structure teeming with fun, then on to a cosy igloo for the night. GOODBYE AUTUMN, HELLO WINTER Written and illustrated by Kenard Pak. 32 pp. Henry Holt. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) Pak's follow-up to "Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn" once again bids adieu to a departing season and greets the new one, delightfully. A girl and a smaller boy walk through the pages saying hello, heading out of fall scenes and into snowy winter ones, listening as trees, birds and animals explain what they're doing to get ready for the cold. Soon, frost and snowflakes are pointing out their roles in the stunning wintertime scenes. Pak's ethereal digital art creates a wintry mood that somehow combines movement with seemingly endless serenity. THE SNOWBEAR By Sean Taylor. Illustrated by Claire Alexander. 32 pp. words & pictures. $17.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) Waking up to snow, a brother and sister rush outside to make a snowman. It turns out to be more of a snowbear - and thankfully so, because they take off down the hill on their sleds and meet a wolf. Their snow creation saves them, then returns to his spot near the house. Naturally their mom doesn't believe them, but the next morning the snowbear is gone. Did he melt, or... ? The story rides the edge between reality and magic with gentle aplomb; Alexander's loose, free-spirited art makes the magic feel quite possible. MICE SKATING By Annie Silvestro. Illustrated by Teagan White. 32 pp. Sterling. $16.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) Field mice are supposed to spend the winter burrowing and huddling underground, but little Lucy would rather be out in the bracing cold. She can't convince her mouse friends to join her, until she finds a way to get them to follow her to the pond for ice skating. Silvestro's simple story is heavy on cheese puns likely to sail past younger listeners, but White's charming illustrations, with their miniaturist sensibility and cosy wood-toned textures, will have little ones hunting through the pages for details of the field-mouse lifestyle and decor. SNOW SCENE By Richard Jackson. Illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. 32 pp. Neal Porter/Roaring Brook. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 8) This fourth book from the former children's editor Jackson romps around outdoors, its few, coy words inviting readers to look harder at the lovely textured acrylic paintings by Seeger ("First the Egg," Green"), a two-time Caldecott Honor winner. We begin in the deep of winter, when a coat of snow renders everything worthy of a second glance - is that the shadow of a crow? Frost in a girl's hair? Each page turn tells a fuller story. As in life, eventually we're in rich springtime scenes, straightforward as a sunny day. But a final page leaves us, appropriately, with the lingering memory of winter. online An expanded visual presentation of this week's column at nytimes.com/books.
