Good Sports (Cork & Fuzz)

Dori Chaconas was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1938. The second child in a family of seven, Dori fell into the role of storyteller, nursery rhyme singer, and general entertainer for her siblings. She claims she learned about story pacing early. If the story action lagged, her fidgety audience would either scatter or start a poking war.

She has been married to Nick, her high school sweetheart, for 44 years. Everyone says the romance will last. They raised four daughters, and are now enjoying three grandsons—especially Grandpa, having been outnumbered by women all those years.

When their daughters were young, Dori wrote for them. She published three picture books and more than fifty stories in children's magazines. In the 70's, her interest turned to yarn embroidery design and she sold designs to major needlework companies and national magazines.

In 1997, Dori started writing stories again, partly to keep her grandsons from fidgeting or starting poking wars. Her stories reflect the warmth of family life. Dori gives credit to her parents for giving her a strong sense of family, and to her children and grandchildren for keeping it alive.

Kindergarten-Grade 2—Cork and Fuzz, two adorably illustrated characters, return in a story that addresses an important topic. Competition strains the best-friendship of Cork, a short muskrat, and Fuzz, a tall, athletic possum who has a tendency to win easily and boast a lot. Even though clever Cork thinks of several different games to play, he ends up losing all of them. Readers who have come up against poor sports will empathize with him and grit their teeth as competition turns to conflict. Fuzz repeatedly says, "I won!" and Cork threatens to go home. When the buddies realize that their friendship is at stake, they come up with a fun and clever compromise. Filled with repeated vocabulary and simple sentences, the text keeps the plot moving quickly. Lively illustrations depict the action as well as the woodsy setting. Kudos to McCue for providing the characters with a wide range of convincing expressions and activities while still having them look just like a possum and a muskrat.—June Wolfe, Bushnell-Sage Library, Sheffield, MA
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