Chirri & Chirra, Underground

PreS-Gr 2–In this new installment about Japanese twins Chirri & Chirra, the girls are on the trail of the mysterious intruders who have made a hole in the wall of their pantry. Hopping onto their bicycles, they follow an underground tunnel. Along the way they come across a subterranean peanut farm where a host of moles is busy harvesting and roasting the peanuts. After consuming “Two cones of peanut soft-serve, warm and fresh as can be,” they are back on the trail. Later the girls find an underground flower garden tended by mayflies that gift them with “flower hats in just the right size.” Eventually, they find the trespassers: a trio of infant badgers. To make amends, the badger parents take them to their home across a lake, to a bountiful meal of fried root vegetables and blue soup, a card game, a nap, and finally a new tunnel specially made to lead the girls back to their own home. The soft-edged illustrations in colored pencils, pastels, and crayons are filled with details that will have readers wanting to pause and take a closer look.