Dustbunny Written by: Geni Tosatto Illustrated by: Emily Laufer
Dustbunny Written by: Geni Tosatto Illustrated by: Emily Laufer
Dustbunny lives under the couch with Tin the tin soldier, Jack the jack, and Grumpybunny. Dustbunny, Tin, Jack, and Grumpybunny like to watch what goes on beyond the couch.
One day, Jack is found by the child of the family and returned to the back with all the other jacks.
Life goes on under the couch, a little bit lonelier than before. Soon after, Tin is found by the father of the family and taken care of. Dust bunny and Grumpybunny watch as Jack plays with the child and Tin gets freshly painted.
Dustbunny is happy for them, but he is also a little sad, and a little jealous. He wants to be found, too.
Grumpybunny warns Dustbunny that if he is found, he will not be trated as nicely as Tin or Jack. Dustbunny asks him why.
Grumpybunny tells Dustbunny about what he calls his Heart. A dustbunny’s Heart is something that was lost for so long it started collecting more and more dust.
Grumpybunny’s Heart is an old locket that had been very important to the mother of the family, but one day it became lost, and forgotten.
“My Heart has been lost for so long that It has become rusty,” Grumpybunny told Dustbunny with a sad face. “Take care not to let your Heart become rusty, or you will be grumpy, just like me.”
Dustbunny told Grumpybunny that even if he certainly was grumpy, he was still fun to be around. After hearing Grumpybunny’s story, Dustbunny realized that he did not know what his own Heart was.
Not long after, the couch was moved for cleaning, and Grumpybunny and Dustbunny were uncovered. Dustbunny was ignored when he his from the broom because he was so small, but Grumpybunny was bigger than Dustbunny.
Grumpybunny was picked up and dusted off until his Heart could be seen. The mother of the family was very happy that her locket was found after so long.
Dustbunny watched as the locket was cleaned up until it shined. Dustbunny could tell that Grumpybunny was happy that his Heart was being loved.
Dustbunny lived alone under the couch watching as friends came and went.
After some time, Dustbunny was found and cleaned up, too, but Dustbunny still did not know what his heart was.
Dustbunny was sewn onto a very old stuffed rabbit, but he still did not know what his Heart was.
The mother of the family set the stuffed rabbit onto the child’s bed.
Dustbunny saw Tin, all cleaned up, standing proudly on a shelf with other soldiers. He also saw Jack and his family playing with the child on the ground, but Dustbunny still did not know what his Heart was.
Dustbunny saw Grumpybunny’s Heart on a necklace around the mother’s neck, bright and shiny like new, And in the reflection of the locket, he saw the stuffed rabbit, a new eye in place, And he finally knew what his Heart was.
Dustbunny was happy, because he knew that he was where he belonged, surrounded by love and friends.
This book was produced in the fall of 2014 at St. Norbert College, in De Pere, WI. This book is a collaboration between design and teacher education students. It is typeset in Noteworthy and Minion Pro and was digitally printed by the college print center. All illustrations were produced by Emily Laufer using pencil, pen, and photographs that were scanned, and digitally colored.