Rubio Fromage sat in his father's cheese shop and longed to taste the beautiful fruits in the window of the fruit shop across the street. Julienne Chéri sat in her mother's fruit shop and longed to taste the delectable wheels and savory wedges in the window of the cheese shop across the street. But Rubio's father hated fruit and Julienne's mother hated cheese, and the children were forbidden to speak to each other.

But one day while making deliveries, they collided on a street corner. Rubio's cheeses and Julienne's fruits flew skyward and fell on their heads, creating spontaneous juicy pairings that they couldn't help but taste. The forbidden combinations were out of this world. Nothing could ever be the same.

Fortunately for Rubio and Julienne, their forbidden adventures end more happily than Romeo and Juliette's, though not before our heroes overcome a few obstacles and accidents, one of which prompts a mortified Rubio to exclaim, ?What cheese through yonder window breaks??

A backmatter menu of child friendly delicious fruit-cheese combinations augments the story.

Lexile Level 580

Fountas and Pinnell Level O

DAN PALEY is the author of Luigi and the Barefoot Races and has written for the Wall Street Journal, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, among other publications.