It Isn't Raining Rain, You Know! Splat! by Roslyn Schwartz

LA DE DA DE DUM...

For once those rapscallion rodent siblings, the Vole Brothers, are up to no mischief at all, just out for a pleasant stroll in the sunshine. It's a lovely day. The grass is green, the coast is clear, and birds flutter overhead.

What could happen?

But then...Ker-splat!

It's not pennies from heaven.

It's pigeon poo, from a low-flying dive-bombing pigeon, making a direct hit on one Vole Brother's noggin, right on top like a dab of whipped cream on a chocolate sundae. His brother cracks up at the sight. He points and snickers annoyingly. Hehehe!

As the guilty pigeon pecks innocently in the background, the unsoiled brother keeps laughing just a little too long, as his brother becomes increasingly steamed. So he decides to share the wealth, scooping up the poop and slinging it onto his brother's nose.

Who's laughing now, huh?

The first Vole Brother swipes up the poo and throws it back, but the second brother quickly ducks, and the poop finds its original owner's head. The Vole Brothers share a high-five, and wave a sarcastic goodbye to the pigeon, who takes to his wings and flaps off page, his own poo still on head. Woot! Justice--at last.

Or NOT. The Voles giggle as they watch their enemy fly away behind them and step right on a slippery banana peel. OOPS!

But here comes a whole squadron of avenging pigeons, loaded for.... well, you know. Not to be bested, though, the Voles Bros. grab the banana skin and fashion a bomb shelter just in time for the pigeons' barrage!

It's any peel, er, port in a storm for the ever inventive Voles, in Roslyn Schwartz' latest, Splat!: Starring the Vole Brothers (Owlkids Books, 2014). In a slapstick scatological story told solely through sound effects and simple cartoon illustrations, Schwartz' latest is a preschool giggle fest which plays with a tongue-in-check look at justice well served. Kirkus Reviews says, "Even the most straight-laced will be hard-pressed not to laugh."

Roslyn Schwartz' other truly funny Vole tales include The Complete Adventures of the Mole Sisters and The Vole Brothers,