I Want to Eat My Brother

Sibling dynamics are served up with just the right amount of bite in a translation that stars Oskar, a little rabbit sporting red spectacles who believes eating to be “a pure waste of time.” Refusing everything his parents offer, from chicken skewers and peanut stew to “pickled bird brains that can fly,” Oskar reveals that he’s holding out for the right dish: the little brother he deems annoying. “I want to chomp his derrière, then gnaw his little knees,” Gaudy writes, getting right to the meat of it: “I’ll take his head in both my hands and chew up his fat cheeks!” But Oskar is no fratricidal Hannibal Lecter—just a jealous older sibling who realizes that with his brother gone, he’d neither be awakened by cries each night nor have to share the duos’ parents. Finding another use for the sibling, glimmers of companionship emerge—though whether Oskar is just postponing a brotherly brunching is open to interpretation. Rea (Nasla’s Dream) works magic with graphite and colored watercolor pencil sketches, marrying a stylish domestic realism with flights of foodie fancy. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)