Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All [Paperback]

Mary Amato (Author), Ethan Long (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Riot Brothers

Move over, Captain Underpants, a couple of new pranksters are in town. Narrated by fifth-grader Wilbur and featuring his third-grade brother, Orville, this hilarious story follows the antics of two boys with overactive imaginations and a comfortable sibling relationship. The action is divided into three “books,” with six chapters each. In the first, the brothers are determined to catch a crook. They make a windfall by giving lessons in being annoying to their classmates, are reprimanded by the principal (who is also their mother), and still manage to foil a bank robber on the way home from school. Next, while searching for treasure, they find a mysterious box in the closet. After they finally open it, they discover that the contents, although not worth money, are still valuable. The final installment has the duo building a catapult designed to overthrow a king and using it instead to defeat a bully. Full-colour illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5–Move over, Captain Underpants, a couple of new pranksters are in town. Narrated by fifth-grader Wilbur and featuring his third-grade brother, Orville, this hilarious story follows the antics of two boys with overactive imaginations and a comfortable sibling relationship. The action is divided into three "books," with six chapters each. In the first, the brothers are determined to catch a crook. They make a windfall by giving lessons in being annoying to their classmates, are reprimanded by the principal (who is also their mother), and still manage to foil a bank robber on the way home from school. Next, while searching for treasure, they find a mysterious box in the closet. After they finally open it, they discover that the contents, although not worth money, are still valuable. The final installment has the duo building a catapult designed to overthrow a king and using it instead to defeat a bully. A "Bonus" section sums up their philosophy of life ("Make something exciting happen every day") and includes the rules to their favorite games (in "Snarf Attack," one player attempts to get the other to laugh so hard during dinner that milk comes out of his nose). The large print is inviting and the black-and-white cartoons add to the light tone. Amato appeals to the funny bone without being quite as gross as the "Captain Underpants" series (Scholastic). Libraries will have a hard time keeping Snarf Attack on the shelf and readers will beg for a sequel.–Jean Lowery, Bishop Woods Elementary School, New Haven, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4. Fans of silly but entertaining gross-out stories, such as the Captain Underpants books, will appreciate this collection of three tales featuring the Riot brothers, Orville and Wilbur, who manage to make even their daily chores a fun adventure. The games they create have names like Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, the Naked Mole-Rat Game, and the Frying Pan Game. The objective of Snarf Attack is to make an opponent laugh so hard at dinner that milk comes out of his or her nose. The objective of Underfoodle is to get as many pairs of underwear as possible on your head in thirty seconds. The Riot brothers also impart their homegrown juvenile wisdom to readers with sayings like "All you need is a butt to put underpants on your butt, but it takes a brain to put underpants on your head." Young readers will appreciate the Riot brothers' attempts to make something exciting happen every day. Long's playful cartoon illustrations extend the fun. Ed Sullivan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 151 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (April 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823420620
• ISBN-13: 978-0823420629
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Amato is an award-winning children's book author, poet, playwright, and songwriter. Her books have been translated into foreign languages, optioned for television, produced onstage, and nominated for the children's choice awards in many states.www.maryamato.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First rate, October 17, 2004

By 

Eric T. Kelderman (Silver Spring, Md) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All (Hardcover)

Mary Amato masters three different genres in one book: fantasy, philosophy and family! This work captures the humor, imagination and even love that two brothers are capable of, all in words and a style that are perfect match for the pre-teen set. And Amato does it without resorting to the kind of bathroom humor that some other books for this age group use. The only problem will be that your children might not be able to put it down at bedtime.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Funny for All, December 20, 2004

By 

L. Loucks "lloucks" (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All (Hardcover)

A fun read for kids grades 4, 5, 6, 7 & even older. The humor is just right for these kids. Read it and see. Maybe you, too, could try making your sibbling "snarf" or get an adult to wipe his/her chin repeatedly. As a teacher, I highly recommend this book for reluctant readers. They will read energetically and excitedly. My 7th grade students want more Riot Brothers. Enjoy!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It is O.K., October 26, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All (Hardcover)

1. Book one=The Riot Brothers Capture a Crook
In book one its starts out with Wilbur and Orville eating at the dinner table while playing snarf attack. Snarf attack is a game they made up where one player attempts to get the other to laugh so hard during dinner that milk comes out of his nose. While eating dinner they decide they want to do something adventurous. They decide they're going to capture a robber. They ask their mom to take them to the bank. She said, "Why do you want to go to the bank?" They say, "To put in money." But they had no money. So they gave "annoying lessons" to make money. At school they didn't charge people for their first lesson but after thatthey charged twenty-five cents. They made $19.50. But they get caught and had to go to the principal's office which happens to be their mom's office. The principal makes them give her the money and clean the halls after school. On the way home their mom had to stop at the bank. In the bank they saw a guy who looked like he might be a robber. So they yelled "thief" but he was just pulling out his checkbook. But the lady in front of him was a thief. The teller gave her five hundred dollars when the teller should have given her only five dollars. the woman yelled out, "I confess, I confess." They didn't get an award or anything though besides a lollipops. When they got home they had to eat, wash the dishes, and then go to bed. When they went to bed they played Underfoodle, which is a game where you have thirty seconds to put the most amount of underwear on your head but at the same time you have to try to take underwear off the other person's head.
2.Book two= The Riot Brothers Find a Hidden Treasure.
It started off with the Riot brothers playing the mole rat game. In the mole rat game you have to finish a cracker with only a certain amount of bites. But then they had to go get the mail for their mom. They got a letter saying that Mr. Hally died 12 years ago. Orville wondered if Mr. Hally left behind a treasure. So they tried their basement but their mom told they had to clean up the basement. They try to make a machine that will clean for them and they called it the Super Swift Stuff Lifter. But it shoved everything off their mom's desk. They said they couldn't do anymore cleaning because they ran out of dust cloths. Their mom said there were more in the closet. They dropped their flashlight and it was pointing toward a box. They thought it was Mr. Hally's treasure but the box needed a key. They think they should take it to a hardware store to see if they have any keys for it. Once they finished cleaning they walked to the hardware store because it was only three blocks away. At the hardware store Bob opened the box for them. Inside the box were two blue socks, two blue hats, two wristbands, and two envelopes. It was their baby box and in the envelopes was $500 for their saving bonds and that was their treasure.
3.Book three=The Riot Brothers Overthrow a King
It starts off with the Riot brothers playing the frying pan game which is where you pretend you are a food in a frying pan and the person has to guess what kind of food you are. They decide to do a mission where they overthrow a king. They decide that they're both going to be king brothers. But they can't do it at school so they're planning on making the ground white since their mom is the principal. So they think if they tape white pieces of paper to the window their mom would think it would have snowed. Their mom felt for it and she cancelled school. So to overthrow a king they're going to make a catapult with a chair on the end. They called the catapult the flinger. When they used the flinger Orville flew straight in to Wilbur. When their mom walks down to the basement she wonders what's the catapult for but they say for snowballs so their mom wants to try it out but there is no snow so they pretend they are outside. But when they get outside it really did snow. When they go outside everyone is already there and they get nailed in the head with a snowball that Goliath threw. They put snowballs in the throne and hit Goliath. They thought they really did overthrow a king when Goliath left. Then some person drove by and said I would like to a photo of you in the newspaper.
The End