Ria, the chipmunk, and Flower, the little girl, made friends with each other on the terrace where birds and animals came to feed. Flower was wise about wild creatures, and knew how to make them trust her. She knew what foods they like, and why.
But even Flower did not know all about Ria's secret, adventurous life in her maze of cunning planned tunnels under the lawn, and with other animals and birds in the woods of the Round Meadow country.
Ria's story is full of the interest of chipmunk ways—the delightful little domestic habits, the care and training of the playful babies, the fascinating early-morning "singing time." There is always the excitement of danger, from weasels underground, from prowling cats above ground, from owls and hawks waiting to pounce from the air. The perpetual search for food leads Ria and her mate, Veedo, into a variety of predicaments, all interesting, some very funny, and one that almost costs Ria her life.
John Oldrin, a keenly observant and appreciative naturalist, weaves into Ria's story what he himself has seen and knows of chipmunk life, from early spring, through summer and autumn, until the first snowfall blankets their long winter sleep. Kurt Wiese's drawings have a beautiful exactness in every detail of chipmunk appearance and movement, and the same poetic outdoor quality as the story.
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