Hungry, Hungry, Hungry! The Vole Brothers by Roslyn Schwartz

WANTED

TWO SMALL, RAVENOUS RODENTS RECENTLY ARRIVED FROM THE COUNTRY.

LAST SEEN CHOMPING AND CHEWING ON DAISIES, TULIPS, AND ROSES.

The Vole Brothers have just one thing on their minds. FOOD!

When they awaken in their new urban pad (a paper bag inside a drainpipe), they are HUNGRY. But they are not down on the farm anymore. They realize right away that they may have to alter their daily diet!

I'm so hungry I could eat a cat!

There is, in fact, a fat feline on the same mission strolling by their home at the moment, following a delicious smell emanating from a nearby trash receptacle. The ravenous rodents are enticed by the ripe aroma themselves, and quickly gnawing out dual eye holes in their sack, they follow the cat as he retrieves an intact slice of (YUM!) pepperoni pizza. But the tubby tabby is not entirely oblivious to being followed by a perambulating paper bag intent on his pepperoni.

AHA!

He snatches the bag, but not before the two rodents have done what they do best, dig themselves an escape tunnel, and leaving the cat, er, holding the bag, they make off with his pizza slice posthaste.

But turnabout is fair play, and while the Vole Brothers celebrate their victory, the pepperoni is pinched by a felonious fowl who flies away with his prize, cawing victoriously, And then, to add insult to injury, while they are admonishing the crow, a troop of ants scoot into the scene and bearing the entire crust on their shoulders, make a run for it.

Are the Vole Brothers out of luck, fated to skip breakfast? Nope! They sight a bunch of birds brunching on a dropped donut and quickly purloin the pastry for their own, and oblivious to the chubby cat hot on their trail, settle down to enjoy their prize. But this time they are really busted!

"In MY tummy!"growls the cat.

The avenging cat grabs a rodent in each paw. Are the Vole Brothers fated to find themselves on the menu this time?

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

"Dinner!" realizes the cat.

It's saved by the bell, the dinner bell, that is, as the corpulent cat heeds the call, tossing the Vole Brothers aside for fancier fare, fortunately flinging the two right into the garden, where they at last get to chow down on succulent strawberries. It's a fun food fight in Roslyn Schwartz' latest The Vole Brothers (Owlkids Books, 2011). Schwartz, author of the noted The Mole Sisters series, offers a simple but humorous text and charming illustrations to create another pair of sibling heroes with an altogether engaging and equally single-minded villain, the fat cat, who almost steals the show. It's a classic cat-and-mouse story that is sure to please preschool fans of the chase.

The "illustrations are delightful, displaying a pitch-perfect sense of comedic timing," agrees Kirkus Reviews.