Pete the Cat Goes Crepuscular: Pete the Cat: Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star by James Dean

TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR!

Everyone knows that cats like to go out as twilight approaches, and Pete the Cat is no exception. With his trusty skateboard and guitar, he rolls out as the sun is setting to see what night has going on. It's getting pretty dark out there, with just that first star visible.

THEN THE TRAVELER IN THE DARK

THANKFUL FOR YOUR TINY SPARK...

To the words of that most venerable of nursery songs, Pete plays along with the lyrics, watching fireflies fly up as the stars pop out in the dark blue sky. Sunset and moonrise are good to see, but soon Pete rolls home, glad to see his mom in the lighted door, looking for him. There is dinner with family (peas on the plate), a sudsy bath with his yellow ducky, sailboat, and red rocket, bedtime hugs, and off to dreamland, where Pete's dreams have him boarding his toy red rocket and flying to a favorite star, "like a diamond in the sky," just in time for the end of the song.

For youngsters who haven't heard the whole of this old English nursery song, Pete's gentle introduction is a pleasant way to sing the whole song as they head for bed. Pete the Cat: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Harper, 2014) is a sweet way to greet the stars that may twinkle at their windows "all the night."

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.