Dust Bunny Wants a Friend

PreS-K—In this nearly wordless story (the only words being "hi," "bye," and "achoo"), a dust bunny seeks to make friends with various creatures in her environment. From her place beneath a chair, she greets a bug that, unfortunately, passes her by. To her delight, a parade of ants crawls all over her, but then moves on. When an orange cat noses the bunny, the cat sneezes, causing the dust bunny to tumble across the room onto a blanket containing a stuffed bear. "Hi," exclaims dust bunny, but when human hands shake the blanket, the bear falls out of reach. Finally, a broom sweeps the room, and dust bunny lands among others of her kind under a table. Enthusiastic "hi's" echo all around as the now-happy bunny is among friends. The illustrations, executed in acrylic and marker on wood and collaged digitally, depict an actual bunny surrounded by gray swirls of dust. A spread of the room with its wood-grained walls, chair, potted fern, sleeping cat, insects, and toys gives way to close-up dust bunny's-eye views. The cat, a giant compared to the bunny, stretches beyond the book's gutter, its nose pressed to bunny's face. Touches of humor include a donut-carrying ant walking in the parade and dust bunny's "bye" as the cat's sneeze sends it flying.