THE CITY GIRLS

Clad in yellow once again, the 16 diverse and curious pals from Weather Girls (2018) and Nature Girls (2019) set out to explore the big city.

From sunrise to sunset, the city is a sight to behold. The girls start early in the morning, grabbing bagel breakfasts at a coffee cart before being enveloped by the city’s hustle and bustle. Crowds swarm the sidewalks, and traffic clogs the streets. The tiny tots gamely face it all with smiles and exuberance (except one, who gets a little too close to a scooter). When rain threatens their plans, they head down to the subway (New Yorkers will appreciate the nod to Pizza Rat). Their first stop? The bookstore! Then there’s a trip to the museum, an eggs-only restaurant (“Eggsquisite” of course), and the park. The city has something for everyone. The rhyme is brisk: “Everyone is crossing streets— / Lights and whistles, / honks and tweets!” Aki’s pace matches the city’s commotion. The specific city landscape is nebulous, so therefore the appended further information on cities is generic. Instead of naming precise landmarks, for instance, it simply talks about how “buildings are often close together” along with nonspecific information about urban, suburban, and rural differences in greenery, housing, and transportation.

In a surplus of books on city life, this one is charming and sweet.