With their lilting language and soft illustrations, the books themselves seem magical-there’s something in them that inspires new adventures amid the most ordinary settings.

Written and illustrated by Kaya Doi, these books are brilliant little windows into childlike play. In this book, a ride in the rain leads Chirri and Chirra to the Rainy Day Cafe, a cozy place designed for watching the rain fall. A trip to the sea becomes a trip under the sea a trip the basement becomes a trip to an enchanting underground land. Chirri and Chirra are two sisters who ride their bikes to simple destinations that somehow transform into magical ones. That doorway doesn’t remain open to them forever.īut books like Chirri and Chirra remind those of us who have crossed that threshold what it’s like on the other side, even as they give younger readers fuel for their imagination. And I’ve watched with mixed feelings as my older girls have begun to grow out of this. They are always seeing something just beyond what I can see, something I’ve forgotten-since my own days as a little girl-how to see. Later that day, my eight-year-old converted her car seat into a helicopter cockpit, and I could hear her back there calling “Turn left! Turn left!” and pulling the arm rest up like a lever as she leaned hard into the turn. The other day my five-year-old turned a pilfered paper bag into robot helmet and walked around the house, beep-booping pleasantly and intoning to herself, “I – am – a – ro – bot.”

This Japanese import is seventh in a winning series and I have loved each one.When you live with little girls (and, I presume, little boys-though I wouldn’t know and could not verify this fact), the veil between the real and imagined world is thin.

It’s a sweet, gentle story where kindness abounds. It’s a small book, longer than it is wide, which allows panoramic views of the little girls on their bikes traversing the terrain of their imagination. The colored pencil art creates a softly glowing, magical landscape of friendly animals and sweet treats. As the girls pedal away they begin to float, and discover that they are riding through the clouds on top of upside down rain! More adventures follow in this “wonderful day in the rain,” until Chirri and Chirra float down gently after eating magical gumdrops which turn into balloons. They encounter a shop in the forest which is only open on rainy days where they sip teas and eat frozen raindrop candy. The sound of their bicycle bells -“Dring-dring, dring-dring!”- is the signal that their adventure begins. It’s a cloudy day and Chirri and Chirra decide to go for a ride. Two little identical girls (sisters? besties?) have an epic bicycle journey of the imagination.

Chirri & Chirra by Kaya Doi