The Vole Brothers

July 4, 2011
The eponymous brothers (adapted from a monthly comic strip in Chirp magazine) are "ravenous rodents" who can't get their paws on a coveted slice of discarded pepperoni pizza. Thwarted by a fat cat (who almost makes them a dinner al fresco), a clever bird, and a small but intimidating army of ants, they're finally persuaded that wild strawberries make a perfectly respectable repast. Given her success with the Mole Sisters, it's not surprising that Schwartz would want to turn her talents to another gender (and species). But whereas the Mole Sisters possessed a rich inner life and a keen sense of observation, the Vole Brothers seem defined by their appetite and little else, resulting in a fairly plodding story. They're mildly mischievous, and even have a few endearing guy qualities (they exclaim "Woohoo!" and bump booties when they think the pizza is in their possession). But the brothers aren't notably funny, wily, or even hapless, so their antagonists (particularly the cat) register far more vividly. Ages 2â5.

August 1, 2011

PreS-Gr 2-As she did in "The Mole Sisters" series (Annick), Schwartz has created a new sibling duo. The mischievous vole brothers are impishly drawn in a layout that resembles a graphic novel with word balloons and sequential panels on the first two pages. The siblings smell something delicious and follow a curious cat to its source, a slice of pepperoni pizza, only to find that they are not the only animals that are hungry. While the cat stalks the voles, the voles stalk the pizza, but their inability to get along distracts them long enough for some resourceful poachers to take their meal, piece by piece. The colored-pencil artwork is expressive and full of humor. A fun introduction to graphic storytelling.-Lia Carruthers, Roxbury Public Library, Succasunna, NJ

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 15, 2011

These critters are so hungry, they could eat a cat...or his dinner.

The rodent twins wake up in a drain pipe, craving some food. Both they and a large passing cat smell something enticing and rush to check it out. A slice of pepperoni pizza lies at the end of the curling odor trail, inside a garbage can; the cat seizes it. Disguised in a paper bag (with convenient eye holes), the voles distract the cat and make off with the slice. But before they have a chance to dig in, the plot thickens. A crow swoops down to steal the pepperoni, and a parade of red ants snaggles the slice. When the voles protest, they find their paws under ant attack! Getting something to eat seems impossible...until they spot a half-eaten doughnut, with frosting! Before they can get to it, there's that cat again, who scoops them up, one in each paw. The sound of a dinner bell gets the cat's attention, and the voles escape. They land right in a strawberry patch, just the right spot for dinner. There's not much to Schwartz's story, but her illustrations are delightful, displaying a pitch-perfect sense of comedic timing in her comic-book-influenced illustrations.

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