Cucumber sandwiches for lunch are the final straw: Zelda and Ivy have no choice but to run away. Equipped with the essentials (lucky jewel, writer’s notebook, Go Fish cards), the fox sisters head straight to their backyard runaway destination. When hunger drives them back inside, their oblivious parents thoughtfully offer leftover cucumber sandwiches. In this and two other short chapters, the siblings act out scenarios firmly grounded in childlike behavior, including creating a time capsule for the “world of the future,” and developing a secret concoction guaranteed to get the haiku-writing juices flowing. Previously featured in picture books, including Zelda and Ivy (Candlewick, 1998), this is the first beginning reader starring the furry sister duo. (Ages 5–8)