CHIRRI & CHIRRA UNDER THE SEA

Chirri and Chirra ride their bikes to a beautiful, magical place.

They unhesitatingly ride into a cave, where, at tunnel’s end, they arrive under the sea. Pedaling all the way and never getting wet, they move along with the current and amid a multitude of fish through a forest of coral. An opening in the seaweed is filled with “seashell sofas,” two of which are reserved for them. They are served lovely, unusual dishes, with the food hiding gifts: a tiny conch for Chirri and a pearl for Chirra. Afterward they pedal to a musical performance and then to a hall presided over by a sea horse, where they may each choose one treasure. Their choices are fitting and satisfying and will remind them of their sea adventure. In this Japanese import the tale is told in the sparest of language, only one or two simple sentences per scene and the “dring-dring” of the bicycles’ bells. The illustrations carry readers along with Chirri and Chirra in the bluest of blue seas, through the waving coral, the lovely, bright, seashell room, the theatre, and the treasure hall—all filled with amusing and surprising details. The children present as stylized Asian girls, informed by the use of the gender-specific “she.”

Young readers will find much to excite and amaze in this gentle fantastical adventure and visual delight.