The Legend of Dust Bunnies

I LOVE my mail lady!!! Sometime before Christmas she brought me a slew of mail!! And some of that mail was books!! She must really like me. But the books weren’t really from the mail lady. She was the go-between. The books came from friends far and wide. Well, I don’t think the friends are particularly wide. Anyway, I received The Legend of Dust Bunnies from Ms Michelle Eastman. Annie’s Special Day and Edmund Pickle Chin from Ms Clara Bowman-Jahn. And Latke, the Lucky Dog from Ms Sue Heavenrich. Aren’t I the lucky dog?!!

We put all of these fine books in my school book bag this week and shared them with my friends at school. Now, I’ll share them with you!

Today I’ll tell you about the Dust Bunnies!! We happen to have quite a colony of these critters at our house! I thought I knew all about those Bunnies!

The Legend of Dust Bunnies
by Michelle R. Eastman
illustrated by Kevin Richter
published by Byway Press in 2014

My readers learn about “blurbs” in their reading classes. The blurb on the back of this book reads –
Join the Dust Fairies on their messy nighttime adventures, and discover how one misfit fairy uses his talent to create something legendary. His story will have families looking at dust bunnies in a new light and may actually give kids an excuse NOT to clean their rooms.

My readers were sure ready to find that excuse!!

It begins –
The Legend of Dust Bunnies
began long ago,
in a house just like this one,
and here’s how it goes ….

Well, let me tell you! This tale is enlightening! Did you know that in the dark of night, little fairies fly into your house and scatter dust and crumbs and grime all over?! I knew it wasn’t me!! They seem to have a grand ole time flitting around your house spreading stuff for vacuum cleaners to scarf up!

But what about those Dust Bunnies? Well, according to this legend, there once was a Dust Fairy named Artie who didn’t like spreading the crumbs around. He liked to collect hair and fur and lint instead. The other Fairies made fun of him. He was kind of like the Rudolph the Reindeer whose friends wouldn’t let him join in any games. So Artie decided to gather all his fiber goodies and make his very own friend. And – Voila! – a Dust Bunny was born!

Now all the other fairies were really impressed with Artie’s little bunny. So, of course, they all had to have one as well! And now ALL Dust Fairies carry around their little bunnies while they’re spreading their grime! And sometimes Dust Bunnies get left behind. 😦 I guess those Dust Fairies aren’t too careful with their treasures. So, if you happen to find any Dust Bunnies around your house, you need to treat them with care! A Dust Fairy will be looking for it, and I don’t know what that Fairy would do if she couldn’t find her Bunny!

My readers liked this book a lot. First, we talked about what a Legend is. We had quite a discussion about that one. Is a legend true? The same thing as a myth? Fiction? or Non-fiction? We decided that a legend is a story that can’t be proven to be true, but is usually accepted as being true. We accept this legend as being true!! The pictures are pretty cool – bright and colorful. Those fairies are a bit wild looking! The tale is told in Rhyme – and I always like some Rhythm in my stories. And we are all going to be on the lookout for Dust Bunnies now!!

My Mom Person made a Bunny once. Not out of my hair that she collected, but from goat hair that she collected. She got a whole big pile of that goat hair (I think it’s called mohair). (We once had a goat named Mo. I guess his hair really was Mohair.) Then she washed that stuff and combed it and spun it on her spinning wheel and made some yarn out of it. And knitted it into a bunny!

I think that Artie used a little more magic than My Mom Person. There weren’t any spinning wheels mentioned in this story.

You can visit Ms Eastman at her website HERE and find out more about the Dust Bunnies.

The next time you pull out that vacuum cleaner – STOP! and THINK! about what might be under your bed – or couch —

And use that vacuum on your dog instead!

Your furry, hairy, vacuum loving friend
Rhythm