School Library Journal Starred Review (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

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 caf&3;, "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

Kirkus Reviews

In this Japanese import, the first in a long-running series to appear in English, two girls ride bikes through a forest-with stops for clover-blossom tea and jam sandwiches.It's such a benign wood that Chirri and Chirra-depicted as a prim pair of identical twins with straight bob cuts-think 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 hotel's 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)

ALA Booklist (Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2016)

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.