They eat sand and gravel for breakfast and a stew of sticks and stones for dinner. No one says “please” or “thank you.” Instead, they kick and yell and punch and shove. Then one day everything changes, when Baby Brute happens upon “a little wandering lost good feeling in a field of daisies.” When he brings it home in his pocket, nothing is ever the same for the little Brute family.

RUSSELL HOBAN is the author of over sixty books for children, including Bedtime for Frances and its five sequels. He lives in London, England. LILLIAN HOBAN (1925–98) illustrated many of Russell Hoban’s books as well as her own creations, which include Arthur’s Christmas Cookies and Silly Tilly’s Valentine.